On Friday night at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, Rajasthan Royals made a mockery of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s 201. No prizes for guessing, it was teen wonder Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at the centre of the demolition of defending champions RCB’s pride.
But if truth be told, it was not their batting that orchestrated the win. It was, in fact, their bowling led by Jofra Archer and Ravi Bishnoi, both of whom took two wickets each. The rain in the lead-up to the match had made the pitch bowler-friendly, particularly for fast bowlers, and RR bowlers made the most of that.
Right from the first over, it was clear the deck was not an easy one to bat on with the swing and seam all around, so much so that RR’s bowlers struggled to control the ball early on, particularly South African quick Nandre Burger. But the RCB batsmen paid no heed. Even a master player like Virat Kohli disappointed on that count. He played too many attacking shots, and they came good briefly before Bishnoi castled him.
Rajat Patidar was the only sane batsman from the RCB playing XI. On a demanding wicket, he was circumspect for the large part of his innings of 63 off 40 balls. However, whenever he was presented with wayward deliveries, he made sure they didn’t go unpunished.
Impact Sub Venkatesh Iyer’s 29 not out off 15 deliveries took them past 200 but since the pitch had eased out significantly by then, it had become clear that no way were RR going to lose in light of the presence of powerhouses like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi in their ranks. Believe it or not, RCB were at least 30 runs short of a match-winning target.
Sooryavanshi killed the game real quick!
Jaiswal disappointed his fans after falling to Josh Hazlewood early on, but 15-year-old Sooryavanshi didn’t. For the second time this season, he scored a 15-ball fifty. He appears to have some kind of fascination with the number 15. And he batted the way RCB should have batted. Sooryavanshi knew which balls to hit and which balls to defend. Clearly, he had his wits about him. He was ahead of everyone else from either team. Hazlewood, playing his first game of the season, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Abhinandan Singh were all at the receiving end of the Bihar batsman’s fury.
By the time Krunal Pandya removed him for a 26-ball 78, he had killed the game, to all intents and purposes. RCB made a brief comeback thanks to Pandya and Hazlewood, who had captain Riyan Parag caught by Pandya, but even then, RR looked in no trouble. With a run-a-ball asking rate, teams don’t lose, particularly in the IPL. And definitely not on a wicket that had become kind of placid.
The calm presence of Dhruv Jurel came in handy for Parag’s men in the end. His innings of 80 not out off 43 balls was a chasing masterclass in its own way.
Forget that mini-collapse; it was an easy win for RR, well and truly set up by their bowlers. It was RR’s fourth win in as many games, and now they and Punjab Kings are the only two sides this season that have yet to lose a game.
