It was the Devdutt Padikkal show at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as the Karnataka left-hander smashed an unbeaten 101 and was aided by Virat Kohli’s 72, which helped RCB knock over RR by 10 wickets. Earlier, Mohammed Siraj and Kyle Jamieson’s early breakthroughs to go with some good death bowling helped RCB restrict RR to 177/9.
Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli proved to be too good and powerful for the RR. After pulsating first innings, which saw RR make a pretty good comeback after being in the dumps at the end of the powerplay, the RCB openers Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal made it look too easy in the end.
Chasing 178 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the duo romped home in a mere 16.3 overs to power RCB to a massive 10-wicket win. It was complete domination by the RCB opening pair as they smashed the RR bowlers to all parts of the Wankhede. There was barely any bowler that was spared as Padikkal got to his maiden IPL ton while Kohli registered his first half-century of this IPL season.
The day started with a bit of confusion and comedy. Virat Kohli won the toss, but Sanju Samson came forward first before things were sorted out as Kohli hilariously said:
“Oh sorry, I won the toss. I’m not used to winning tosses.”
Like every other team at the Wankhede, RCB opted to field first. Mohammed Siraj and Kyle Jamieson set the tone early and bowled excellent spells in the powerplay. Jos Buttler and Manan Vohra combined to score three boundaries in the first two overs, but Siraj came back beautifully to knock over Buttler’s stumps in the third over. Jamieson then had Vohra skying one to mid-on, where Kane Richardson took a comfortable catch. David Miller, who was promoted up the order to No. 4 was undone by a superb yorker from Siraj as the left-hander was hit on the toe to be out LBW.
RR skipper Sanju Samson struck a couple of boundaries to help the inaugural IPL champions end the powerplay 32/3. However, a couple of over later, Samson welcomed Washington Sundar into the attack with a huge six over mid-wicket, but he was out the next ball. It was a soft dismissal as Samson chipped one straight to mid-wicket.
At 43/4, things looked bleak for RR. Their middle and lower middle-order hadn’t really come to the party in this tournament except for that one knock from Chris Morris. However, the Indian trio of Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia stepped up really well.
Dube and Parag resurrected the innings, and they only upped the run-rate. The duo found the boundaries regularly. Dube took a special liking to Yuzvendra Chahal, smashing him for a couple of sixes. Kane Richardson and Harshal Patel were taken to the cleaners as well.
The Dube-Parag pair put on a 66-run stand for the fifth wicket before Parag was dismissing, trying to scoop one off Patel and top-edged it to the third man. Richardson got the wicket of Dube, who holed out at long-on. Tewatia had started off really well as he got a couple of fours and a six in his first seven balls.
He joined hands with Morris to take RR past the 170-run mark. However, at one point, it looked like RR were well-set for a total of around 185-190, but the RCB bowlers pulled things back nicely towards the end. Siraj dismissed Tewatia in the penultimate over. Patel picked up a couple of wickets in the final over, which helped RCB restrict RR to 177.
In reply, it was the Padikkal show, and it was well supported by fine innings from Kohli. Shreyas Gopal opened the bowling for RR, and Kohli made his intentions clear from the word go. The RCB skipper launched the Karnataka leg-spinner for a massive six off the third ball of the innings. But it was Padikkal who started the carnage at the other end.
The Karnataka left-hander got one boundary off Chetan Sakariya before hitting his Karnataka teammate Gopal for a couple of boundaries. Chris Morris and Mustafizur came into the attack and travelled the distance as Padikkal continued his boundary-hitting form. RCB finished the powerplay with 59 runs, and Padikkal had raced away to 41 off just 22 balls. Meanwhile, Kohli played second fiddle superbly as he kept rotating and feeding Padikkal with the strike.
The template continued after the powerplay, and the 20-year-old opener got at least a four or a six every over. He flew away to 80 in no time, and he reached there in just 36 balls. At the end of the 10th over, RCB reached 107, and Kohli had contributed a mere 26 off 24 by then.
Post the 10-over mark, Kohli started accelerating and showcasing his range. He started finding the fence with ease and raced away to his half-century in just 34 balls. It was Padikkal’s turn to rotate the strike and watch from the other end. RCB scored 162 runs in the first 15 overs.
With just 16 runs needed, Padikkal was on 91. He had scored just 11 runs off his last 11 deliveries. Thus, Kohli started to quietly turn the strike back to the left-handed opener, who completed his maiden IPL ton with a couple of boundaries and finished off the game for RCB.
It was a comprehensive win and fourth in a row for the ‘Men in Red’. They continue to remain the only unbeaten side in this competition and have stormed their way to the top of the points table once again.
Brief Scores
Rajasthan Royals 177/9 (Dube 46, Tewatia 40, Parag 25, Siraj 3/27, Patel 3/47) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 180/0 (Padikkal 101, Kohli 72) by 10 wickets.
