Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], April 23 : Glenn Maxwell and Faf Du Plessis's crucial partnership took away the match from the hands of Rajasthan Royals as RCB stood victorious by 7 runs in the first match of Sunday's doubleheader in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Glenn Maxwell's quick-fire knock of 77(44) unsettled Rajasthan bowlers and undid all of their hard work in the powerplay. He picked his target carefully and smashed boundaries all over the field.
"The counter-attack from Maxi and Faf was even better than the Chennai game, it was a better surface that day. Maxi took the game away in just four overs. We thought 160 might be enough but the way they batted helped us to 190," Virat Kohli said after the match.
Mohammed Siraj found his feat in the last game against Punjab Kings as he ended the game with 4/21 in 4 overs. He continued to build on his performance as he picked up the crucial wicket of Jos Buttler for a two-ball duck in the first over of the game.
"(On Siraj) Phenomenal, he's got him (Buttler) out in the past and he's bowling as well as I've ever seen. Running in with the new ball he shows that intent and confidence, he has the Purple cap and for good reason. He's leading the attack and hopefully, Josh comes in the next game. (On Harshal Patel) He always bowls the tough overs, not easy at Chinnaswamy. He's closed out games against DC and today as well. So massive credit to the way he has performed. We trust Him to deliver at death. Whenever Hazlewood comes in, we might look like a different attack."
The toss was a crucial aspect of the match, RR opted to field first and their decision initially seemed to have paid off, but RCB managed to get a hold of the match within a span of two overs. The impact player further allowed RCB to take control of the game.
"To be honest, we had this discussion during the toss. The pitch looked dry and I mentioned to the guys that they will have 10 overs under lights which is very difficult out here. The advantage was the ball got scuffed up. However, with the impact player rule and the extra batter, games are always on. That's why so many close games."
RCB performed well in the first innings as they managed to put up a score of 189/9 on the board in 20 overs. Rajasthan had a similar start to the game but they started to fade away after 10 overs. They ended up putting a score of 182/6 on the board and fell short by 7 runs at the end of the game.
After registering their fourth victory of the tournament, RCB will face Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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