IPL 2023: Faf, Maxwell fifties; Harshal's 3-32 power RCB to 7-run win over RR

Riding on the fifties from Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell followed along with Harshal Patel's impressive bowling Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat table-topper Rajasthan Royals (RR) by seven runs in the IPL 2023 match here at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.

After a 127-run stand between Du Plessis (62) and Glenn Maxwell's (77), Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a batting collapse as late strikes from Rajasthan Royal (RR) restricted the hosts to 189/9.

In response, RR too had a similar start to that of RCB. Mohammed Siraj started the innings beautifully as he cleaned up Jos Buttler for a duck and conceded just one off the first over. Then, Yashaswi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal together collected eight boundaries and a six in the next five over as RR posted 47/1 in the Power-play.

Post Power-play, Jaiswal and Padikkal accelerated the run rate as the duo reached a close-to-century partnership thanks to their well-timed shots, and the Royals were 92/1 after 10 overs.

RCB managed to put pressure on the Royals with their tight bowling as the visitors didn't get a single boundary in the next four overs.

In the 11th over, Padikkal completed his fifty in 31 deliveries before becoming David Wiley's victim in the next, and the 98-run partnership came to an end. Padikkal came down and looked to swing it away but doesn't get a hold of it and Kohli ran in from long-on to complete a nice catch.

An over later, Harshal Patel denied Jaiswal a half-century as he sent the batter packing for 47. Jaiswal tried to slam it over long-on, but captain Kohli pouched it safely.

As RR didn't get any big hits in the last 24 balls, Sanju Samson started the 15th over with a boundary over the bowler's head. A couple of singles later, he slammed a massive six to release some pressure. But the skipper had an off day as he failed to score big. But, Dhruv Jurel kept the visitors in the hunt with a counter-attacking 34 runs in the death overs.

Harshal Patel struck again in the 16th over and got the big fish Samson for 22, making the task difficult for the Royals. RCB's strike bowler Siraj went for 16 runs off the next over as he bowled three wides and Dhruv Jurel smashed him for a couple of boundaries.

Jurel went with the flow and smashed Willey over the deep square leg for a six. But things became tougher for the Royals as the big hitter Shimron Hetmyer got run out by Suyash Prabhudessai in the same over and the momentum shifted towards RCB.

With 33 needed in 12, Jurel smashed a stunning flat six off Siraj and survived a dramatic run-out and 13 runs came off the over.

With 20 needed off the final over, Ashwin played a bizarre shot and got a boundary, and went for a double on the next ball. He followed that up with another four.

Ashwin tried to go big on the next delivery but didn't get much elevation and handed a simple catch to the fielder stationed in the deep mid-wicket. With 10 needed off 2, two singles came off the last two balls and RCB sealed the win by 7 runs.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore 189/9 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 62, Glenn Maxwell 77; Trent Boult 2-41, Sandeep Sharma 2-49) beat Rajasthan Royals 182/6 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 47, Devdutt Padikkal 52; Harshal Patel 3-32) by 7 runs.