Royal Challengers Bangalore thrash Rajasthan to go top

Royal Challengers Bangalore 123/3 beat (Gayle 49*, Tiwary 24*) beat Rajasthan Royals 117 ( Dravid 35, Binny 33) by 7 wickets.

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The wicket at the Chinnaswamy stadium was a perfect batting strip. The ground is not that much big. The outfield was really quick, which the Royal Challengers Bangalore typically exploited against the Rajasthan Royals. Royal Challengers Bangalore maintained a tight length and kept chipping away at the wickets, restricting the Royals to a below par-score of 117 runs. Royal Challengers Bangalore made use of the home conditions and won the game comfortably by seven wickets.

Royal Challengers Bangalore bowled extremely well, especially with the new ball. Ravi Rampaul was constantly troubling Watson and Rahane with his out-swingers. Watson would have relished batting on the wicket as the ball was coming on to the bat nicely. Watson and Rahane were the in-form consistent batsmen for Rajasthan at the top of the order. They didn’t exploit the conditions and wicket as Rajasthan lost Watson and Rahane in quick succession, leaving Rajasthan Royals at 26/2 at the end of 5th over.

Rahul Dravid and Stuart Binny re-constructed the innings for the Rajasthan Royals as the duo put on a salvaging partnership of 40 runs. They were never able to boost the run-rate as the Royal Challengers’ bowlers were on top. They stuck to the basics and just kept it simple as they were bowling wicket to wicket, that made life difficult for Dravid to accelerate. However, Stuart Binny made use of some loose deliveries as he scored a quickfire 33 before getting dismissed for 33 at the crucial stage of the innings. Rahul Dravid soon followed Binny as he was caught at long-on by Ravi Rampaul for 35, leaving the Royals reeling at 97/4.

Following Dravid’s dismissal, Rajasthan tumbled as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Brad Hodge was required to put in a big performance and take the score past 140-odd runs. They had a chance, but the wicket off Hodge and Faulkner in quick succession, turned it around for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Royal Challengers Bangalore would be pleased with their bowling performance as their bowlers did not provide too much room for the Royals batsman. Right from the start, they maintained a tight length and kept the pressure on Rajasthan.

Rajasthan Royals would have hoped for a better batting performance as they were cruising along nicely at one stage with Dravid and Binny at the center. But the wicket of Binny completely turned things around for the Royal Challengers as the Rajasthan batsman attempted unorthodox shots and paid the price for it.

Royal Challengers Bangalore found it very easy as Chris Gayle and Dilshan started the chase confidently. Gayle and Dilshan never found the target difficult as the Royals seamers were not up to the mark as they bowled too many loose deliveries and conceded too many extras. The departure of Dilshan, Kohli and AB de Villers in quick succession did not affect the scoring rate because Gayle and Tiwary looked in fine-knick.

Rajasthan Royals were not able to cut-off the boundaries as the Royal Challengers batsmen struck it so hard. Also, Dravid was not aggressive enough as he didn’t have two slips to Tiwary when he came out to bat. Overall, it was dominant all-round display from the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Rajasthan Royals play their next game against Chennai Super Kings on April 22, while Royal Challengers Bangalore play their next game against Pune Warriors on April 23.