Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have brought in Michael Bracewell as a replacement for Will Jacks, who injured himself ahead of the tournament, and the batter proved his worth during an inter-friendly match between teams led by Faf du Plessis and Suyash Prabhudessai.
The match was played on Thursday (March 31 night), with Bracewell smashing a magnificent century. However, it was not enough as du Plessis's XI failed to chase down Suyash XI's 217 runs for 6 wickets in 20 overs.
Glenn Maxwell scored 78 runs for the Suyash-led team. He was ably supported by Mahipal Lomror, who hit an unbeaten 48 in 27 balls. Anuj Rawat played an innings of 32 runs in 16 balls as well. Among the bowlers, Mohammed Siraj and Reece Topley took two and one wicket respectively, conceding 49 and 32 runs as well.
In response, Faf du Plessis's side scored 215 runs for five wickets, riding on Bracewell's unbeaten 105 off just 55 balls. This, combined with du Plessis's 47 off 35 balls, was not enough for the team, who suffered a 2-run loss at the hands of Prabhudessai's side.
Michael Bracewell joins RCB
Jacks was ruled out of IPL 2023 after sustaining an injury during the second ODI of the three-match series against Bangladesh in Mirpur. He made his T20I debut against Bangladesh after shining in the Vitality Blast and the inaugural edition of the SA20 league in South Africa.
Meanwhile, Bracewell came to India after the Test series and also played two ODIs against Sri Lanka. He join RCB at his base price of Rs 1 Crore after the side paid Rs 3.20 crore for Jacks.
Bracewell has never previously played in the IPL and went unsold during December’s auction. Meanwhile, RCB will kick off their campaign against five-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians on April 2 at their home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
RCB squad for IPL 2023
Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Suyash Prabhudessai, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Michael Bracewell, Anuj Rawat, Finn Allen, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, David Willey, Karn Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood, Siddarth Kaul, Akash Deep, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Will Jacks (injured), Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav
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