Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) notched up a comprehensive 112-run win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur on Sunday (May 14) and strengthened their IPL 2023 playoff chances.
After opting to bat first, skipper Faf du Plessis (55 off 44) and Glenn Maxwell (54 of 33) scored half-centuries to help RCB post a competitive 171 for five.
Their bowlers, led by Wayne Parnell (3/10), then put up a scintillating display to bowl out Rajasthan for a paltry 59 in 10.3 overs – the third lowest total in the history of IPL. Spinners Michael Bracewell (2/16) and Karn Sharma (2/19) picked two wickets each.
Earlier, Du Plessis and Maxwell stitched a 69-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform for the Challengers. But the middle order once again failed to fire as RCB lost four wickets for just 18 runs. Leg-spinner Adam Zampa and medium-pacer KM Asif bagged two scalps each for Rajasthan.
“Really good for our NRR. Tough pitch. We batted first and assessed the conditions. We batted in the powerplay and thought 160 will be a good score. We have had a good set up till the 15th over. But we managed to capitalize on the momentum shift at the end. Great job,” said RCB skipper Du Plessis in the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Bracewell would want to bowl on this every day of the week. We needed a left-arm spinner. May be Shahbaz could have been an option. Wrist spin could have been an attacking option. Hopefully, we can set it up for the last game at the Chinnaswamy. Today was a good one for the team. They needed this confidence to go into the last two games,” he added.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
What did we just watch! What a victory for RCB! 🤯 We needed that! #RRvRCB
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) May 14, 2023
What a win💪
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) May 14, 2023
Job done in ten and a half overs 🔥
✌️points in the bag and a significant boost to our Net Run Rate! 🙌#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2023 #RRvRCB pic.twitter.com/I9TKdIYO7d
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) May 14, 2023
What a win for #RCB! At the top, @Gmaxi_32 and @faf1307 adapted really well to the slow deck. @AnujRawat_1755's 11-ball 29* added the finishing touches. And the bowling effort was really impressive, especially by @WayneParnell in his spell of 3/11.
A thumping victory. #RRvsRCB… pic.twitter.com/NkNVfc2vXw
— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) May 14, 2023
Extremely disappointed with the casual approach of our batters in such a key match of qualifying scenario. Pathetic loss.
— Bhawana (@bhawnakohli5) May 14, 2023
The celebrations of Virat Kohli & Faf Du Plessis. pic.twitter.com/xEsrLbe73E
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) May 14, 2023
KGF are proving to be enough for RCB to stay in the hunt. Also, RCB have won all day-games this year. All defending. Bowlers had gone off the boil in the last couple of games…but picked up today and how. 👏👏
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 14, 2023
Terrific bowling show by @RCBTweets to bowl #RR out for just 59 runs. They move to the fifth spot with 12 points. Two big games coming up for them. #IPL2023
— Yusuf Pathan (@iamyusufpathan) May 14, 2023
.@WayneParnell ran through #RR's top order and scalped an economical 3️⃣-wicket haul as he becomes our 🔝 performer from the second innings 👌🏻👌🏻
A look at his bowling summary 🔽 #TATAIPL | #RRvRCB pic.twitter.com/Eh6At69RQB
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 14, 2023
RCB. 👌👀
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) May 14, 2023
Lowest totals in IPL:
49 – RCB v KKR, 2017
58 – RR v RCB, 2009
59 – RR v RCB, 2023#RRvRCB— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) May 14, 2023
Virat Kohli pumped up after Joe Root's dismissal 🙂#cricket #IPL2023 #RRvRCB #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/TKDudOa3Ou
— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) May 14, 2023
Talk about storming back up the table. #RCB doing it in some style. That no-ball is hanging in the air around the #RR dug-out
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 14, 2023
