Royal Challengers Bangalore registered their sixth win this season, defeating Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in their ninth league match of the ongoing Indian Premier League on Saturday, 17 October.
Choosing to bat first, captain Steve Smith scored 57 off 36 balls to help Rajasthan reach a competitive 177 for six wickets in 20 overs.
In response, Virat Kohli’s 44 and AB de Villiers’ quickfire half-century helped RCB cross the line with seven wickets in hand and just two balls remaining.
Here’s a look at the big moments from the match that helped RCB consolidate their position at third place on the points table.
1. Uthappa Opens
RR, who haven’t had the most pink season so far, sent Robin Uthappa to open the innings with Ben Stokes, and pushed Jos Buttler down to number five.
Chris Morris (4/26) broke the 50-run opening stand by removing Stokes for 15 (off 19 balls). Uthappa added another 19 runs with Sanju Samson before Chahal (2/34) picked up two wickets in two balls to remove both batsmen. Uthappa was caught out by Aaron Finch for a 22-ball 41, which featured seven boundaries and a six. Samson had another bad day at the office, contributing just 9 runs to the score.
On opening the innings, Uthappa said, “It's been a while, I really enjoyed it. Wanted to give a good start to the team. Going hard at the top was important, the pitch became slower and slower as the innings progressed.”
2. Steve Smith Returns
Captain Steve Smith was finally among the runs once again. The Aussie batsman started the season with back to back half-centuries but had scored a total of just 44 runs in the next 6 innings.
Coming in to bat at number four, he stitched a 58-run partnership with Jos Buttler (24) and added 46 runs with Rahul Tewatia (11-ball 19). Smith reached the fifty-run mark off 30 deliveries. He scored a 36-ball 57 which included six boundaries and a maximum before falling to Morris in the final over.
3. Tewatia’s Catch to Dismiss Kohli
Virat Kohli walked out to bat in the fourth over after opener Aaron Finch was caught out off a delivery by Shreyas Gopal for 14.
He notched a 79-run stand with opener Devdutt Padikkal before two wickets in two balls put the brakes on RCB’s innings.
Tewatia removed Padikkal for 35 (off 37 balls) and then took a stunning catch at the boundary off Kartik Tyagi’s delivery, sending Kohli packing for a 32-ball 43.
Running along the boundary, Tewatia caught the ball. Losing his balance, he released the ball in the air, jumped over the boundary and then leaped back in to complete a clean catch to remove the skipper.
4. De Villiers’ 22-Ball 55*
With Kohli and Padikkal gone, RCB were reduced to 102/3, still needing 76 runs off 41 balls.
RCB needed 54 runs from 24 balls when the 36-year-old South African superstar swung the odds in RCB's favour when he started the 19th over bowled by Jaydev Unadkat with three consecutive sixes.
After a single took de Villiers off strike, the under pressure Unadkat bowled a wide delivery before his fifth ball was dispatched for four by Gurkeerat Singh.
Another single off the last ball took the tally for the over to 25 runs. RCB needed 35 from 12 balls before the start of the over and that deficit was reduced to 10 off the last six balls.
Jofra Archer bowled the last and after five runs came off the first three balls, de Villiers hit the fourth for a six over deep-midwicket to take his team over the line.
AB de Villiers had an unbeaten 77-run stand with Gurkeerat Mann. ABD smashed a 22-ball 55* while Mann was unbeaten on 19*.
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