IPL 2023: RCB bowl out RR for 59 for massive 112-run win in Jaipur – ‘What a gift’, ‘Thumping win’

Royal Challengers Bangalore gave home team Rajasthan Royals a royal pasting as they defeated them by a massive 112 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Sunday.

With this win, the already-competitive points table saw RCB climb to the fifth spot while RR dropped to sixth and all but out of playoffs race. In stark contrast to the stellar night the Royals had in Eden Gardens in their last match, it was a procession of wickets in a 172-run chase this time around that will become a talking point.

For RCB, Wayne Parnell returned with an impressive 3/10 as Sanju Samson and Co were bowled out for a paltry 59, the third lowest total ever in the Indian Premier League.

While no RR batter turned up, it was a fifty from both Faf Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell, and a solid finishing act by Anuj Rawat (29* off 11) that propelled RCB to a 171/5 in the first innings. The rest of the batting fell flat in just 10.3 overs, with only Shimron Hetmyer (35) and England import Joe Root (10) managing double figures.

New Zealand’s Michael Bracewell and fellow spinner Karn Sharma took two wickets each.

Bangalore’s batsmen set up victory after a strong 50-run start by du Plessis and Virat Kohli, who fell for 18 off Indian pace bowler KM Asif. The in-form du Plessis, who remains top of the batting chart with 631 runs, stood firm and formed a key partnership of 69 with Maxwell.

Analysing the defeat, Samson said, “I think our top three were scoring a lot of runs, we go hard in the powerplay but it didn’t come out today. I think it’s too soon to analyze or dissect the game. You need to go hard in the powerplay knowing the ball was getting slower and older, that’s the way me, Jaiswal and Jos have played throughout.”

He added: “Credit to the RCB bowlers for their energy and intensity. I think this was a target that could have gone to the wire, I expected a tight match if we had a decent powerplay.”

Samson was asked if he could put a finger on why RR’s season has derailed after looking like one of the favourites early on. “I was just thinking seeing the batting collapse where we went wrong? I don’t think I have an answer to that yet, sorry,” he said.

“We all know the nature of the IPL, we’ve seen some funny things happen in the league stage. We have to keep strong, take a day off and think about the game in Dharamshala. I think we need to end on a strong note. We have to take responsibility on the whole as a team for this performance.”

Here’s a look at the reactions from the match:

With inputs from AFP