New Delhi: Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore outclassed an already depleted Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets on Wednesday by seven wickets in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 Phase 2 match at Dubai International Stadium. Rajasthan Royals lost the toss and were invited to bat first. A power-packed 58-run innings from Evin Lewis pushed RR to 149 runs in their allotted 20 overs.
At one stage, Rajasthan Royals were in total control of the match and were cruising at 100/1 off 11 overs but RCB bowlers came up with a spirited effort to turnaround things and choke RR's innings as Sanju Samson-led squad could manage to put up just 49 runs in their final nine overs.
For Bangalore, Harshal Patel yet again emerged as the star performer as the speedster bagged 3 wickets in the last over of Rajasthan's innings. He dismissed Riyan Parag, Chris Morris and Chetan Sakariya. In RCB's prevous match against defending champs Mumbai Indians, Harshal had taken a hat-trick.
Chasing a decent 149 for the win, openers Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal stitched a solid stand for the first wicket and after their dismissal and a fruitful 44-runs contribution from KS Bharat, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell (30-ball 50) scored his fourth 50 of IPL 2021 to hunt down the target with 17 balls remaining.
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Kartik Tyagi, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat(w), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Daniel Christian, George Garton, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal