Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) registered a comfortable victory over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Match 60 of TATA IPL 2023 held at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. After winning the toss, RCB captain Faf du Plessis decided to bat first and scored a composed innings of 55 off 44 balls, his seventh fifty of IPL 2023. Together with crucial innings from Glenn Maxwell (54 off 33) and Anuj Rawat (29* off 11), RCB reached a competitive total of 171/5. Wayne Parnell led the attack of the RCB bowlers and scalped three wickets in the Powerplay. The hosts never recovered from the early blow and were bowled out for 59 in just 11 overs.
RR lost five wickets inside the Powerplay while chasing 172. Yashasvi Jaiswal (0 off 2), Jos Buttler (0 off 2), and captain Sanju Samson (2 off 2) departed quickly. Joe Root survived an LBW scare, and RR's Impact Player Devdutt Padikkal (6 off 7) lost his wicket early. The team lost half their side inside six overs. Hetmyer's short little cameo of 35(19) ended in the next over as he mistimed his heave straight into the hands of the long-on fielder. Karn Sharma then sent back Adam Zampa and KM Asif in the 11th over as RR were bowled out for the third-lowest total in the IPL - 59.
RCB made three changes to their starting XI as Michael Bracewell, Wayne Parnell, and Karn Sharma replaced Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, and Vijaykumar Vyshak. RR made one change to their starting XI as Adam Zampa replaced Trent Boult. Parnell was the star of the show with his figures of 3/10, while Ashwin was run out by a Dhoni-esque flick onto the stumps by keeper Anuj Rawat.
RCB started off slowly as the Rajasthan Royals bowlers bowled with discipline, conceding only one four in the first three overs. However, Faf du Plessis changed gears in the fourth over and cut one through point for a four and then pulled one over wide long-on for a six. Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin were then introduced into the attack and started well, but RCB reached 42/0 at the end of the Powerplay. RCB found it tough to accelerate but eventually reached 171/5 thanks to the middle-order batsmen.
In conclusion, RCB bounced back in style to register two crucial points on the table after two losses in a row. Meanwhile, RR would have to find their way back to the drawing board and look to improve their performance in their upcoming matches.