There was a joke among IPL fans that Royal Challengers Bangalore plays and wins matches only because it has brilliant trio of batting – Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell. Nobody took them as bowling side. But on Sunday, they turned that joke on its head as RCB bowlers demolished the ace batting lineup of Rajasthan Royals for just 59 runs. RCB defeated RR by massive 112 runs thereby improving their NRR and increasing their chances of playoff berth. Billed as virtual quarter-final, IPL match 60 saw RR crumbling to superb bowling attack by RCB. The home team was five down inside the powerplay. After that, they never recovered.

Wayne Parnell (3-10), Michael Bracewell (2-16), Karn Sharma (2-19) didn’t let RR to make a comeback in the game. This is the third lowest total in the IPL history. While the playoff math on minds of every team, this win means that RCB are still in contention for next stage. Additionally, RR may have a chance on technical ground. Things look very intense and chaotic in the IPL points table at the moment. This is the second time that RCB have beaten RR on their home ground in IPL 2023. In the first encounter, RCB had beaten RR by 7 runs. This time around, the margin of victory is far too big.

A dejected Sanju Samson said that he had no answer for this performance. He said that he was thinking what went wrong for RR. Putting up a brave face, Samson said that ‘funny things’ happen at in the last stage of league matches and RR would keep their hopes high and play their best game. The Royals skipper said their strategy to go hard in powerplays had come unstuck, adding that his batters had little choice but to take risks, given the wicket was going to slow down as their innings progressed.

(With agency inputs)