New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bengaluru managed to absorb the pressure they were put under by Rajasthan Royals while defending their 206-run target to win by 11 runs in an IPL 2025 game on Thursday.
Virat Kohli (70 off 42 balls) and Devdutt Padikkal (50 off 27) had helped the home side put on 205/5 but had it not been for Josh Hazlewood’s 4/33 Rajasthan would have reached their target.
But the Australian pacer struck timely blows that restricted the Royals 194/9 despite Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring a 19-ball 49 and Dhruv Jurel’s 34-ball 47.
It was Rajasthan’s fifth straight loss in the tournament that kept them at the eighth spot with four points in nine games.
RCB, after their first win at home in four matches, jumped up to third with 12 points from nine matches, behind Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals on net run rate.
Kohli, Padikkal hit fifties
Earlier, Kohli and Padikkal’s half centuries took RCB to 205/5 after Rajasthan Royals had won the toss and elected to field. Kohli’s 70 and Padikkal’s 50 helped RCB dominate the middle overs of their innings.
They put together a 95-run partnership with the second wicket that was the platform on which RCB built their innings.
RCB lost the toss for the fourth time at their home ground and were fortunate when Phil Salt (26 off 23 balls) got a life from Riyan Parag as he dropped a catch off Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Kohli was initially uncomfortable while facing the pace of Jofra Archer but gradually gained confidence and began timing the ball. Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, formerly of RCB, dismissed Salt to give Rajasthan their first breakthrough.
Kohli carried on and reached his half-century in 32 balls, his fifth in nine games in the tournament so far and first at home, after hitting back-to-back fours off Sandeep.
By this time he and Padikkal began to score freely as RCB’s score reached 156 for one after 15 overs. But Archer came back into the attack and jolted the run-scoring with the wicket of Kohli, who was caught at the cover region miscuing a lofted shot to a slow leg-cutter,
Padikkal was dismissed soon after as he hit Sandeep Singh’s slower ball to Nitish Rana in the covers. Jitesh Sharma (20 not out off 10 balls) and Tim David (23 off 15 balls) then took RCB past the 200-run mark.
Josh Hazlewood took four wickets to help Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Rajasthan Royals by 11 runs in their IPL 2025 match on Thursday. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
