RCB thumps RR by 112-run to keep playoffs hope alive

JAIPUR: Riding high on a dominating bowling display Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) thumped Rajasthan Royals (RR) by a huge 112-run margin in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, here on Sunday, to keep their playoffs hopes alive.

The win gave RCB crucial two points and they sit fifth on the table with 12 points and a healthy run rate of +0.166, with two matches to go.

For RCB, Wayne Parnell was the pick of the bowlers as he claimed three wickets with the likes of Michael Bracewell and Mohammad Siraj also bowling really well as RCB sealed a massive win.

After Faf du Plessis' composed innings of 55 off 44 and Glenn Maxwell's 54 off 33. Anuj Rawat's cameo of unbeaten 29 off 11 lifted RCB to a competitive 171/5 in 20 overs.

Then, the RCB bowlers, led by Wayne Parnell (3-10), came out all guns blazing as they reduced RR to 28-5 in the Power-play. The hosts never recovered from the early collapse as they were bowled out for 59 inside 11 overs.

Chasing 172, RR lost three quick wickets and were reduced to 7 for three in the first two overs. Mohammad Siraj drew the first blood as he removed inform opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for the duck. In the next over Parnell struck twice to claim the wickets of Jos Buttler and skipper Sanju Samson.

Parnell struck again and picked up his third, trapping Joe Root lbw. Bracewell got his second wicket in the seventh over as he removed Dhruv Jurel and RR lost their sixth wicket with not even 50 runs on the scoreboard.

Then, Hetmyer did what he does best and smashed three back-to-back maximums to Karn Sharma. The next ball, a bit of a mix-up in the middle resulted in Ravichandran Ashwin's run out, and RR were reduced to 50/7 in eight overs.

Maxwell came into the attack in the 10th over and got rid of RR's only hope Hetmyer and the host were struggling on 59/8 halfway through the chase.

Karn Sharma's double strikes in the 11th over put the last nail in the coffin and restricted the host to 59. He first cleaned up Adam Zampa on a googly. A delivery later he dismissed K.M. Asif and RCB secured a massive 112-run win.

Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 171/5 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 55, Glenn Maxwell 54, Anuj Rawat 29 not out; Adam Zampa 2-25, KM Asif 2-42) beat Rajasthan Royals 59 all out in 10.3 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 35; Wayne Parnell 3-10, Michael Bracewell 2-16) by 112 runs. IANS

Also Read: Feel fortunate to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore from Day One: Kohli

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