IPL 2020: Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal and Yuzvendra Chahal star to put Royal Challengers Bangalore top of the table

IPL 2020: Virat Kohli and youngster Devdutt Padikkal peeled off a half-century each, comfortably fashioning an eight-win win for Royal Challengers Bangalore over Rajasthan Royals, a victory that sees them go top in the IPL 2020 Points Table.

Not often do teams win as comprehensively like this. Almost every bowling change produced breakthroughs, catches weren’t dropped and a youngster set up the chase that the captain finished by bulldozing the bowling. You know why Virat Kohli was smiling ear to ear. Having been through more downs than ups in the IPL, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain knew this was a win worth cherishing.

IPL 2020 RCB vs RR: Devdutt Padikkal (L) and Virat Kohli during their 99-run partnership (PTI Image)

And as is the case with one-sided wins, this one also helped Royal Challengers Bangalore tick several boxes. Fast bowlers Navdeep Saini and Isuru Udana got some stick but they removed Rajasthan Royals openers quickly for their spinners to spin a yarn around the middle order. They did that and more. Washington Sundar was again on the button, conceding only 20 runs in his four overs. Yuzvendra Chahal, making good use of a sluggish pitch, removed Sanju Samson (4), Robin Uthappa (17) and Mahipal Lomror (47), Royal’s highest scorer in the match. Together, the spinners conceded only 44 runs, putting the brakes on Royals’ scoring rate. “We thought they would get 170 but restricting them to 155 is good,” said Chahal after the end of the first innings.

When it was time to chase, Devdutt Padikkal delivered again. A 45-ball knock of 63, his third fifty in four matches, was just the right innings to set up the chase despite Aaron Finch’s early departure. At the other end, Kohli was making batting look ridiculously easy. He was a bit rusty in the beginning but on Saturday, he played with ease and steered through the extra covers for couple of boundaries. The asking rate never spiralled out of control. All that mattered for RCB was a clean, comprehensive win. And they did that with a second-wicket partnership of 99. By the time AB de Villiers had come in, RCB had brought down the rate to almost eight per over.

For Rajasthan Royals, it was a forgettable outing. The batting never took off after the initial setbacks. And once Samson was brilliantly caught and bowled by Chahal, it was always a tough ask for the misfiring Robin Uthappa and the younger batsmen. They still took the score past 150. But it wasn’t enough to make RCB sweat.