Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) finally broke their home ground jinx as they notched up an 11-run win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their IPL 2025 clash at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on April 24. This win marked RCB's first win at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium this season, following a concerning streak of three consecutive defeats at the venue.
After Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal's robust fifties, RCB's victory was orchestrated by Josh Hazlewood's brilliant four-fer and brilliant spin bowling by Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma, who successfully stifled Rajasthan Royals' run-chase and restricted them to 193/9.
Chasing a target of 206 runs, Rajasthan Royals were comfortably placed at 110 for two wickets after nine overs. However, RCB's decision to introduce Krunal Pandya (31/2) into the attack proved to be a masterstroke, as he immediately dismissed the dangerous Riyan Parag (22 off 10 balls). Bowling in tandem with Suyash, the duo managed to restrict the flow of runs and build significant pressure on the RR batsmen. Dhruv Jurel (47 off 34 balls, including three fours and three sixes) kept RR in contention, but the turning point came in the 19th over when pacer Josh Hazlewood (4/33) turned up the heat. The Australian bowler dismissed the well-set Jurel and then followed it up by removing Jofra Archer for a golden duck. With 17 runs required in the final over, bowled by Yash Dayal, Shubham Dubey was caught out on the very first ball, effectively ending any hopes of RR's win.
Riyan Parag not happy with RR's batting approach
Meanwhile, RR's stand-in captain Riyan Parag admitted that his batters didn't show enough intent against spinners which decided the course of the match.
"We did really well with the ball. I thought it was a 210-215 wicket, we held them back really well. Halfway through our innings we were in the driver's seat. We've got ourselves to blame. Didn't show enough intent against spinners. (How much of it is mental?) It does play a part but support staff has given us a lot of freedom and the onus is on us to go ahead and show that freedom and play freely. It's a tournament where if you make a slight mistake, you'll pay for it. We speak a lot as groups," Parag said at the post-match presentation.
"We try to be very honest with our conversations about how everyone was feeling in different situations. We've spoken about situations like this, just couldn't execute it tonight. We've got to play for pride now. There are a lot of fans who support us. There are a lot of people who work really hard for us to come out here and play in a tournament like this. Have got to do it for them. Have to be very grateful and honoured to play this game and play for this franchise and we've got to show it next time we play," he further added.
With this win RCB rose to third in the IPL 2025 points table with sixth win, while RR remained eighth in the standings with their seventh defeat in the ongoing season. RCB will next take on Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 27 at the Arun Jaitley stadium while RR will lock horns with Gujarat Titans (GT) on April 28 in Jaipur.