Playing risk-free cricket, devoid of anything flashy, Srikar Bharat and Glenn Maxwell came together and dismissed the Rajasthan Royals (RR) attack, taking Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) home by seven wickets in Dubai on Wednesday. Chasing 150, Maxwell played a lively knock of an unbeaten 50 off 30 balls while Bharat slammed 44 off 35.
After RCB captain Virat Kohli's (25 off 20 balls) innings was cut short by a direct hit from Riyan Parag in the seventh over, that saw him being run out, Maxwell and Bharat ensured nothing else went wrong. With this win, RCB have further strengthened their hold in the top-four while RR find themselves in a do-or-die situation in the race for a playoffs spot.
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Earlier, after winning the toss RCB had a fresh pitch to exploit and a solid bowling battery at disposal that proved too good for RR. Kohli & Co had little difficulty on their way as they eliminated the growing threat of Evin Lewis and soon after took control, restricting Royals at149/9. Of course, it helped that the RR's middle-order was terribly out of form.
Spinners Shahbaz Ahmed and Yuzvendra Chahal did the maximum damage and cut down the middle order like grass beneath a mower. Later in the 19th over, Harshal Patel, the Purple Cap holder, joined the party and strangled the lower order with three quick wickets of Riyan Parag, Chris Morris and Chetan Sakariya.
Lewis announced his arrival in the IPL with a destructive knock of 58 off 37 balls giving Royals a flying start. Putting up an exhibition of fiery shots, the brand of cricket he showcased at the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League, the West Indian along with Yashavi Jaiswal (31 off 22 balls) ensured an easy passage for the middle order to put a respectable total on the board.
But the game changed in RCB's favour after the14th over when in-form Sanju Samson (19 off 15 balls) was dismissed by left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed. Rahul Tewatia's wicket followed on the last ball of the same over. In his attempt to sweep, he top-edged and was caught at the deep backward square. The RR openers had upped the ante when Kohli introduced Maxwell, taking the score to 56 at the loss of no wicket in the powerplay.
1/9:RCB beat Rajasthan
<p>Glenn Maxwell hit his second successive half-century to fire Royal Challengers Bangalore to a convincing seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals. (BCCI/IPL/PTI Photo)</p>
2/9:The Big Show
<p>Maxwell made an unbeaten 50 off 30 deliveries as Bangalore chased down their victory target of 150 in 17.1 overs. (BCCI/IPL/PTI Photo)</p>
3/9:RCB bowlers
<p>Bowlers set up the team's second straight win with Harshal Patel taking three wickets and Shahbaz Ahmed and Yuzvendra Chahal claiming two each to restrict Rajasthan to 149/9. (BCCI/IPL/PTI Photo)</p>
4/9:The Royal collapse
<p>Batting first, Royals collapsed from 100/1 in 11 overs to 117/5 with George Garton sending back Evin Lewis for 56 and Ahmed striking twice in his first over. (BCCI/IPL/ANI Photo)</p>
5/9:Man of the match
<p>Chahal also struck twice to return impressive figures of 2/18 from his four overs of leg spin and was named man of the match. (BCCI/IPL/ANI Photo)</p>
6/9:Patel power
<p>Patel, who got a hat-trick in his team's previous win, rattled the middle and lower order and struck on successive deliveries. (BCCI/IPL/ANI Photo)</p>
7/9:Run chase foundation
<p>Virat Kohli, who hit 25, and Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 22, started briskly for the opening wicket to lay the foundation for the chase. (BCCI/IPL/ANI Photo)</p>
8/9:Match-winning stand
<p>Srikar Bharat (44) and Maxwell put on a third-wicket stand of 69 to take the attack to the opposition bowlers despite Mustafizur Rahman striking twice. (BCCI/IPL/PTI Photo)</p>
9/9:Fifty and victory
<p>Bharat fell short of his fifty but Maxwell, who made a match-winning 56 in the previous game, completed his 50 with two straight boundaries. (BCCI/IPL/PTI Photo)</p>It was with a 96m hit by Jaiswal that got the scoreboard moving and Maxwell's first over went for 13 runs. Rookie George Garton, who was making his IPL debut after replacing Kyle Jamieson, was taken to cleaners in his second over as Lewis ripped him apart, fetching 18 runs.
But the debutant came back strong and cleaned up the dangerous looking Lewis with a slower delivery that caught the top-edge and wicketkeeper Bharat took a clean catch.
