PTI
Pune, April 26
Riyan Parag smashed a match-defining half-century before the bowling unit lived up to its reputation to hand Rajasthan Royals a 29-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League match here today.
Parag single-handedly took his side to 144/8 with his unbeaten 56 off 31 balls, which is his highest score in IPL. He struck three fours and four sixes. Parag marshalled the RR lower-order brilliantly.
The Royals have backed me for the last three years and I am paying off bit by bit. I love pressure and try to showcase my abilities and do my best. During the timeout, we agreed on 140 to be a good score and we tried that and worked well in the end Riyan Parag, player of the match
RCB’s chase never got going as RR bowlers, led by young Kuldeep Sen (4/20), Ravichandran Ashwin (3/17) and Prasidh Krishna (2/23), bundled out the Faf du Plessis-side for 115 in 19.3 overs. Opening the innings on the back of two consecutive first-ball ducks, Virat Kohli started on a cagey note but lit up the stadium and raised hopes of his fans when he struck two back-to-back boundaries off Trent Boult to start his innings.
Kohli, though, fell in the next over after a Prasidh Krishna bouncer got the better of him. RCB’s problems compounded in the seventh over when Sen, who replaced Obed McCoy in the playing XI, picked up the wickets of captain du Plessis (23) and Glenn Maxwell (0) off successive deliveries. The RCB innings never got going after that despite starts for Shahbaz Ahmed (17) and Rajat Patidar (16).
Earlier, RCB’s decision to bowl first yielded great results as they picked up wickets at regular intervals, not allowing RR any scope of building a big partnership.
Josh Hazlewood (2/19), Wanindu Hasaranga (2/23) and Mohammed Siraj (2/30) picked up two wickets each to stifle the Royals’ batting line-up.
Brief scores: RR: 144/8 (Parag 56*, Samson 27; Hazlewood 2/19; RCB: 115 all out in 19.3 overs (du Plessis 23; Sen 4/20, Ashwin 3/1)
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