Rajasthan Royals 161 for 3 (Buttler 106*, Samson 23, Hazlewood 2-23) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 157 for 8 (Patidar 58, du Plessis 25, Prasidh 3-22, McCoy 3-23) by seven wickets
Such was Royals’ dominance that the spectators had began leaving the stadium even earlier than the sport was over. When Buttler hit the profitable hit, a six over large lengthy-on off Harshal Patel, there have been nonetheless 11 balls remaining.
A streaky begin
After profitable the toss, Sanju Samson had stated the pitch appeared a bit sticky. While not many balls stopped on the batters, there was additional bounce and motion – each within the air and off the floor – on supply for seamers. Kohli flicked Trent Boult for six over deep sq. leg within the first over however fell to Prasidh within the subsequent, making an attempt to steer a again-of-size supply behind level solely to edge to the keeper.
At the top of 4 overs, Royal Challengers have been 25 for 1. Then Faf du Plessis obtained two fours – certainly one of them by way of a gloved pull that simply evaded Samson – off Boult. From the opposite finish, Patidar reduce Prasidh previous level earlier than punching him by means of covers for again-to-again fours. He tried one other again-foot punch on the following ball however didn’t maintain it down. Riyan Parag, nevertheless, spilled the prospect at backward level. That allowed Royal Challengers to complete the powerplay in a a lot better state, at 46 for 1, regardless of a sluggish begin.
Patidar rides his luck
At one level, du Plessis was batting on 22 off 21 and Patidar on 20 off 19. Then Patidar teed off, launching Yuzvendra Chahal over lengthy-on for a six. In the eleventh over, he had one other slice of luck as his slash off McCoy simply beat Ashwin at quick third man.
McCoy did put an finish to du Plessis’ struggles, sending him again for a 27-ball 25, however Glenn Maxwell got here in and hit two sixes off the primary balls he confronted. Then, he mistimed a pull off Boult within the 14th over and was caught at effective leg.
Patidar, although, stored attacking and introduced up his fifty, off 40 balls, with a six off Chahal. In the sixteenth over, he launched Ashwin over deep midwicket for his third six of the innings. On the following ball, he tried to clear lengthy-off however was taken proper on the boundary line.
The sluggish dying
Royal Challengers have been 132 for 4 after 16 overs and appeared set to succeed in no less than 170. But Chahal, McCoy and Prasidh conceded solely 25 off the final 4 overs. The nineteenth over from Prasidh was the one that actually pegged Royal Challengers again. Off the primary ball, he eliminated Karthik because the batter toe-ended one to lengthy-on. Next, he flattened Wanindu Hasaranga’s center and leg stumps with a searing yorker. Harshal survived the hat-trick ball however the harm had been carried out.
Buttler and Jaiswal blaze away
It wasn’t an enormous goal. On high of that, Buttler and Jaiswal gave Royals a flying begin. Jaiswal began by hitting Mohammed Siraj for 2 sixes and a 4 within the first over. In the seamer’s subsequent over, Buttler took him for 2 fours and 6. Maxwell slipped in a quiet over earlier than Buttler took aside Shahbaz Ahmed, smashing him for 2 sixes and a 4. Hazlewood removed Jaiswal within the final over of the powerplay however there was no stopping Buttler who introduced up his fifty off simply 23 balls.
Samson had a sluggish begin and was on 4 off 7 balls earlier than skipping right down to Shahbaz and hitting him over lengthy-on. Buttler hit two successive fours in the identical over. By the midway stage within the chase, Royals had raced away to 103 for 1, requiring solely 55 from the final ten overs.
No miracle for Royal Challengers
Having reached 66 off 33 balls, Buttler edged Harshal behind the stumps however Karthik dropped the catch. Hasaranga, although, nailed his match-up when he had Samson stumped off a googly for 23 off 21 balls. He has now dismissed Samson six occasions in 34 balls whereas gifting away solely 25 runs.
Despite solely 14 runs coming from overs 12 to fifteen, Royals nonetheless wanted simply 32 from the final 5 overs. Buttler then hit Hasaranga for 2 sixes in an over, crossing 800 runs for the season within the course of. He reached his hundred off 59 balls after which wrapped up the sport together with his sixth six of the evening.
Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo