Josh Hazlewood (2/19), Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (2/23) and Mohammad Siraj (2/30) took two wickets each to suppress the Royals’ batting line-up.
Josh Hazlewood (2/19), Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (2/23) and Mohammad Siraj (2/30) took two wickets each to suppress the Royals’ batting line-up.
Royal Challengers Bangalore restricted the in-form Rajasthan Royals to 144 for 8 in their Indian Premier League match here on Tuesday.
Josh Hazlewood (2/19), Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (2/23) and Mohammad Siraj (2/30) took two wickets each to suppress the Royals’ batting line-up.
Riyan Parag was the only bright spot for RR with an unbeaten 56 off 31 balls.
RCB’s decision to bowl first yielded good results as they took wickets at regular intervals, leaving no scope for RR to build a big partnership.
Devdutt Padikkal (7) and Jos Buttler (8) failed to give RR a good start and the decision to promote Ravichandran Ashwin (17) also backfired.
Siraj accounted for both Padikkal and Ashwin in his successive overs, while Hazlewood picked up the all-important wicket of Butler, which was caught inches off the ground by Siraj, as the batsman failed a short delivery, leading to mid- On its pulling done.
Sanju Samson (27 off 21 balls) and Daryl Mitchell (16) tried to put on a partnership, putting on a 35-run stand for the fourth wicket, before de Silva went through the RR captain’s door as the batsman pulled through an extraordinary reverse sweep. was taken.
Mitchell failed to go and tried to play an anchor, holding one end and adding 31 runs together with Riyan Parag.
But the New Zealander’s struggle was cut short by Hazlewood as, in a desperate attempt to break the chains, he gave a simple catch to Glenn Maxwell at long-on.
At 100 for 5 after 15 overs, RR’s attempt to post a decent target was dealt another blow as Shimron Hetmyer (3) fell to de Silva and went for a slog sweep.
Trent Boult (5) was at the forefront, a brilliant catch by Virat Kohli at midwicket off Harshal Patel.
RR’s struggle can be gauged from the fact that he failed to hit boundaries for seven consecutive overs from the 12th to the 18th over. Parag finally broke it in the 19th over by picking Hazlewood over extra cover fence.
Parag hit Patel for a four and two sixes in the final over and not only completed his half-century but also gave the RR bowlers something to defend.