Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) clinched a nail-biting win against table-toppers Rajasthan Royals (RR) by seven runs in the IPL 2023 match held at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. The match witnessed some stunning performances by both teams, but it was RCB's Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell, followed by Harshal Patel's brilliant bowling, that sealed the deal for the home team.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, RCB got off to a great start with a 127-run partnership between Du Plessis (62) and Maxwell (77). However, RR made a strong comeback with some late strikes, restricting RCB to 189/9.
In response, RR had a similar start to RCB, but Mohammed Siraj's brilliant bowling in the opening over cleaned up Jos Buttler for a duck, putting the visitors under pressure. However, Yashaswi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal's fantastic partnership kept RR in the game, with the duo reaching a close-to-century partnership.
But RCB managed to put pressure on the visitors with their tight bowling, and Harshal Patel's impressive bowling denied Jaiswal a half-century and sent him packing for 47. Sanju Samson started the 15th over with a boundary and a massive six, but RCB's Patel struck again, getting the big fish Samson for 22.
Dhruv Jurel's counter-attacking knock of 34 runs in the death overs kept the visitors in the hunt, but things became tougher for RR as Shimron Hetmyer got run out by Suyash Prabhudessai. With 33 needed in 12, Jurel smashed a stunning flat six off Siraj and survived a dramatic run-out, bringing the equation down to 20 runs needed off the final over.
In a thrilling finish, RR's Ravichandran Ashwin played a bizarre shot and got a boundary, followed by a double and another four. But on the next delivery, Ashwin went for a big shot but failed to get much elevation and handed a simple catch to the fielder stationed in the deep mid-wicket, sealing RCB's win by seven runs.
With this win, RCB moved up to the third spot in the IPL 2023 points table, while RR retained their position at the top. The match was a thrilling encounter that kept the fans on the edge of their seats until the very last ball.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 189/9 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 62, Glenn Maxwell 77; Trent Boult 2-41, Sandeep Sharma 2-49) beat Rajasthan Royals 182/6 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 47, Devdutt Padikkal 52; Harshal Patel 3-32) by 7 runs.