Royal Challengers Bangalore defeat Rajasthan Royals by 8 wickets in the first game of Saturday double-header here in Abu Dhabi. Bangalore will climb up the table and sit on top with the second win in row. Rajasthan will drop to 6th place with two loses in a row.
Royals captain Smith won the toss for the first time in the season, and batting first seemed the right decision given the sapping heat. However, Royals couldn’t make the most of that advantage with their top three gone within ten balls of each other. Buttler (22 from 12) looked good during his brief stay, but Smith (5 runs in 5 balls) and Samson (4 runs in 3 balls) didn’t last long enough.
Samson’s dismissal required several replays, with the third umpire trying to determine whether Chahal had got his hands under the ball while diving full-length to his right. The soft signal on the field was ‘out’, and the third umpire eventually ruled that the images didn’t provide enough evidence to overrule the on-field call, which gave Chahal his first wicket.
The Royals sent in Robin Uthappa at No.4, but if the move was intended to give some stability, it didn’t quite have the desired effect. Far from his fluent best, Uthappa couldn’t get going, and ended with his third score of less than a run a ball in four matches so far this season.
Lomror, Tewatia come to Royals rescue
Royals had gone with Mahipal Lomror for this game ahead of Ankit Rajpoot, bringing in a batsman who could bowl occasional spin for a seam bowler, and Lomror repaid that faith with a robust innings of 47 runs in 39 balls. At the death, the big-hitting pair of Rahul Tewatia and Jofra Archer smashed four sixes between them to push the Royals past 150. But with Tom Curran not getting a bat and Tewatia and Archer facing only 22 balls between them, it left questions about the Royals batting order, and whether they would have been better served by sending in quicker scorers earlier.
Padikkal impressive outing and Kohli back to form
In only his fourth IPL innings, Padikkal(63 runs from 45)powered to his third half-century. He looked at ease from the start of this innings, effortlessly picking up Jaydev Unadkat for six over deep midwicket second ball. He lost Aaron Finch in the third over, lbw to a Shreyas Gopal googly, but Kohli joined him for a match-winning stand. The two would go on to put up 99 runs in 80 balls. Kohli could afford to take his time and play himself in, with the asking rate not too high and Padikkal stroking the ball freely.
Padikkal lost his stumps to Archer – easily the best Royals bowler on show – when he was stepping away to make room, but de Villiers joined Kohli to knock off the remaining runs comfortably.
Y Chahal,Man of the Match:
“I’m enjoying a lot, because the grounds are bigger and I can flight more. When you come into bowl, when you get a wicket in the first over, it makes you confident. They take less chances and then I just vary the pace. I think Sanju’s wicket was the most special one. First ball I got wicket and I knew the wicket was slow. These boundaries are good for spinners. I miss Chinnaswamy, but here you can bowl the googles and the wide ones, and on the leg side becuase the boundaries are bigger.”
Virat Kohli, Captain of RCB:
“Very important two points. The kind of game we had last time, it’s very important to back that up. It was warm, but coming from Dubai, this felt better because of the breeze. It’s a funny game, an amazing game and I was telling Jos that I love this game and hate it too; it’s something you need to understand [bad form] but when the team’s doing well, you get more time to apply yourself. This tournament can get away from you very quickly. When you start losing initially, the games start going quickly and suddenly you realise 8 games are gone and you don’t have points. We need to keep up the momentum. There wasn’t much to reveal [to Devdutt] and Io told Simon this guy’s got serious talent – reach, and a great eye. And a left-hander, very clean shots You hardly feel he’s taking risks, you get that feeling rarely at this level. Today he carried from 40 to 65 odd, so he’s a smart guy and he understands the game well.”
D Padikkal:
“It’s a different feeling [batting with Kohli], I’ve watched him from home so much since I was young and to bat with him is an unreal feeling. He just kept pushing me. I was getting tired, cramping up, but he pushed me. He said I need to see the team through. That’s how he bats and he was conveying that to me too. I’m just playing on the merit, watching as closely as I can and making a decision. It was hot, especially after fielding for 20 overs it was difficult to bat. Not pinching myself anymore, maybe after the first innings I was, now it’s just part of the job.”
Steven Smith, Captain of Rajasthan Royals :
“We could have done a lot better. Didn’t get enough runs on the board, it was a good wicket. We couldn’t get a partnership together. Jofra bowled exceptionally, our leggies bowled well, but we didn’t have enough on the board. Our top 3 should be doing the job a lot more. The last two games it’s cost us. We bat quite deep, but our top 3 need to bat longer and get outselves into the innings. Lomror played nice under pressure and to get 155, we didn’t look like getting that many; he played a mature innings. Just a few areas which we’ve to work on and we’ll go back and look at those. It was very hot, you come back for a two and takes a bit longer to get your oxygen back.”
