NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally treated their home fans to a victory, defeating Rajasthan Royals by eleven runs in Match forty‑two of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Coming into Thursday night, Virat Kohli had four fifties in the campaign. At a fickle Chinnaswamy, he kept stalling in the thirties. That changed in emphatic style as the former skipper produced a 42‑ball 70 that married restraint with sudden violence.
After losing yet another toss, RCB were asked to bat, and the first two overs hinted at nerves: Jofra Archer’s 149‑kph bumper flew for four, and Phil Salt survived a sitter in the deep.
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Kohli first fed on Tushar Deshpande’s gentle pace, stroking two boundaries in the fifth over to ensure the powerplay closed at a healthy 59 without loss.
The right‑hander reached fifty in 32 balls, his first home half‑century of the season, by pinging Sandeep Sharma for back‑to‑back fours, a wrists‑whip through mid‑wicket followed by a classical punch past cover.
Padikkal’s own 50 from 27 balls kept the pressure on Rajasthan’s bowlers, and late cameos from Tim David (23 off 15) and Jitesh Sharma (20* off 10) converted the solid platform into a final score of 205/5.
Rajasthan’s response began explosively. Yashasvi Jaiswal whipped and lofted his way to 49 from 19 balls, dragging the chase to 72/1 after 6 overs. Krunal Pandya’s clever slow‑arm spin nipped out skipper Riyan Parag and Nitish Rana, yet Dhruv Jurel kept the Royals alive with an inventive 47.
When Shubham Dubey carved Yash Dayal for two boundaries, the equation fell to 18 required from 12 deliveries, placing the match on a knife‑edge.
Enter Hazlewood.
The Australian quick had been expensive early, conceding 26 from his first two overs, but his last two overs rewrote the script.
In over seventeen he allowed only six runs, leaving himself one over in the bank.
He returned for the nineteenth with Rajasthan on 188/7.
His final over read: single, dot, wicket, wicket, dot, dot. The first ball, a full‑toss, yielded a scrambled single to long off.
The second, a slow bouncer, hurried Jurel. Ball three was a pinpoint yorker that brushed Jurel’s bat on its way to Jitesh Sharma’s gloves.
Ball four, a hip‑high cutter, forced a top‑edge from Jofra Archer to cover. Two dots to Wanindu Hasaranga completed an over worth only one run and two wickets.
Hazlewood’s spell closed at four overs, thirty‑three runs, four wickets; his final twelve deliveries cost seven.
With seventeen still needed, Yash Dayal repeated last season’s heroics, mixing yorkers and slower balls to concede only six in the twentieth.
Rajasthan finished on 194/9. Kohli’s calm and Hazlewood’s clutch combined to lift Bengaluru to twelve points and third place, while the Royals stayed marooned in eighth, their playoff hopes fading fast.
