Josh Hazlewood’s impressive bowling performance of 4-33 led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a narrow 11-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in the IPL match at Bengaluru on Thursday. After Bengaluru posted 205-5, Rajasthan fell short in their chase of 206, despite being in a comfortable position for most of the innings.
In the process RCB picked up their first home win of the season, snapping a three-match losing streak. The Rajat Patidar-led side also picked up their first win over Rajasthan Royals after four consecutive losses in evening matches.
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On the other end, RR are now on a five-match losing streak in IPL 2025. Ever since beating Punjab Kings on April 5, RR have finished second best to Gujarat Titans, RCB, Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants and RCB again on Thursday. Royals had reeled off five straight defeats in IPL 2009-10 as well.
In the contest at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Virat Kohli anchored Bengaluru’s innings with a well-crafted 70 off 42 balls, setting up a competitive total on the batting-friendly pitch. He formed crucial partnerships, first with Phil Salt for a 61-run opening stand and then with Devdutt Padikkal for 95 runs.
Salt contributed 26 runs before his dismissal in the seventh over, while Padikkal scored a quick 50 off 27 balls. Tim David’s 23 and Jitesh Sharma’s unbeaten 20 provided the finishing touches to Bengaluru’s innings.
Jofra Archer was the pick of Rajasthan’s bowlers with figures of 1-33, while Sandeep Sharma claimed 2-45 and Wanindu Hasaranga took 1-30.
Rajasthan’s chase began strongly with Yashasvi Jaiswal smashing 49 off just 19 balls before falling to Hazlewood. Vaibhav Suryavanshi departed early for 16, caught off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling.
Krunal Pandya’s crucial spell removed both Nitish Rana (28) and Riyan Parag (22), shifting the momentum in Bengaluru’s favour. Dhruv Jurel’s dismissal for 47 in the 19th over, followed by Archer’s wicket on the next ball, effectively sealed the game for Bengaluru.
“I think we did really well with the ball… We held them back really well,” Parag said after the game. “With the batting, I thought at the halfway mark we were in the driving seat. We have ourselves to blame… (The team was) in the driving seat and we let it slip.”
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“I was just sticking to my strengths,” said player-of-the-match Hazlewood. “I knew hard lengths were hard to hit so I was mixing that up with yorkers, change of pace.”
Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with figures of 1-50 in his four overs. Despite maintaining a healthy run rate during the first half of their chase, Rajasthan’s batters failed to convert their starts into match-winning contributions.
