The Rajasthan Royals registered their 2nd victory in Vivo IPL 11, as they trounced the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 19 runs.
The victory was largely built around a sensational knock of 92 off 45 deliveries by Sanju Samson which included a couple of fours and ten big sixes.
For the home team, it was skipper Virat Kohli who top-scored for them with a blazing inning of 57 off 30 deliveries. He eventually got dismissed by Shreyas Gopal which opened the floodgates for Rajasthan.
Eventually, there was no way back for Bangalore especially after the twin wickets of Kohli and De Villiers.
It was RCB skipper, Virat Kohli who won the toss and put the visitors in. The opening pair of Ajinkya Rahane and D’Arcy Short began splendidly and stitched together a 49-run partnership before the end of the powerplay. However, both the openers fell in quick succession which reduced the visitors to 53/2.
However, it was the pair of Sanju Samson, and Ben Stokes started the rebuilding job.
Samson looked in complete control of proceedings and kept smacking the listless Bangalore bowlers all around the park. It was carnage on display as Samson toyed with the RCB bowlers.
Meanwhile, two Englishmen, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler gave him ample support which ensured Rajasthan reached the highest total of the tournament so far. Samson remained unbeaten on 92, as Rajasthan finished on 217 in their allotted 20 overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the RCB bagging a couple of wickets for 22 runs.
Brendon McCullum and Quinton de Kock started proceedings for the home team. For one more time, McCullum was dismissed early by Krishnappa Gowtham for just a mere four runs.
Wicket-keeper De Kock and skipper Kohli joined hands to take RCB to a comfortable position. Kohli looked in solid touch from the outset. After a 77-run partnership between the duo, it was part-time spinner D’Arcy Short who brought an end to De Kock’s innings.
The scoreboard pressure kept mounting, and Bangalore wasn’t able to keep up the required rate. Mandeep Singh and Washington Sundar played some wonderful shots during their innings of 47 and 35, respectively.
However, none of the innings were enough, as RCB eventually fell short by 19 runs to lose their 2nd match of the tournament.
Here is what winning skipper, Ajinkya Rahane said at the post-match presentation ceremony,
“Feels good. We all know how dangerous RCB are. We were thinking of getting 160-170, the wicket was a bit slow. But the way Sanju batted was incredible. It was all about getting that one big partnership. Knee is better. Slight niggle but will be fine. Shreyas bowled really well. We know when you score 200-plus, opponents will come hard. Sanju is a great talent, good to have him in our team. He’s the future for India, and we back him.”