Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) registered a massive 112-run victory over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 fixture in Jaipur on Sunday. RCB won the toss and chose to bat first, posting a total of 171/5 in 20 overs, with half-centuries from Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell. Later, RR was bundled out for just 59 runs after Wayne Parnell broke the backbone of their batting line-up with his three-wicket haul.
A post-match moment became a major highlight of the day as RCB star Virat Kohli interacted with RR batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was dismissed for a duck. In a video posted on IPL Twitter, Kohli was seen sharing some tips with the 21-year-old batter, who had played a massive knock of 98* runs against Kolkata Knight Riders in the previous match. The video soon went viral on social media as fans were left touched by the sportsmanship shown by both players.
Chasing 172 for a win, RR suffered a stunning batting collapse, being bundled out in just 10.3 overs, with only Shimron Hetmyer (35 off 19 balls) and Joe Root (10 off 15 balls) scoring in double-digit figures. It was RR’s second-lowest total in IPL history, with their lowest being 58 against the same opponents in 2009.
RR batters failed to give a fight as they kept on playing shots when the situation demanded sticking for a while on a slow and tricky wicket. RCB bowlers exploited the lack of application by RR batters, with all of them returning with wickets. Wayne Parnell was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets for 10 runs from his three overs. Michael Bracewell and Karn Sharma took two wickets each while Mohammed Siraj and Glenn Maxwell got one each.
With this win, RCB jumped to the fifth spot with 12 points from 12 matches, keeping them in contention for a playoff berth. RR moved down to the sixth spot with 12 points from 13 matches.
RCB dominated the game with both bat and ball, and their post-match display of sportsmanship has left fans touched. RR’s poor performance with the bat cost them the match, leaving their playoff chances hanging by a thread.
