Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) kept their winning run intact as they secured a seven-run win against Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL 2023 clash at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. RCB, who were invited to bat first, were jolted by Trent Boult early in the innings as he removed Virat Kohli for a first ball duck and then sent Shahbaz Ahmed to the pavilion for 2(4) in his first two overs.
However, Glenn Maxwell along with Faf du Plessis remain unfazed despite the early blows and kept attacking right from the word go. Together the duo added 127 runs for the third wicket as RCB went to pile a challenging 189/9 in 20 overs.
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Rajasthan then started the run chase on a similar note as Mohammed Siraj cleaned up Jos Buttler for 0. However, former RCB player Devdutt Padikkal and Yashasvi Jaiswal didn't lose momentum and drove Royals forward before both the batters lost their wickets in quick succession.
Following their dismissal, Sanju Samson's 15-ball 22 and Dhruv Jurel's late cameo kept RR in hunt but the team could only add 182/6 on the board in 20 overs.
{{/usCountry}}Following their dismissal, Sanju Samson's 15-ball 22 and Dhruv Jurel's late cameo kept RR in hunt but the team could only add 182/6 on the board in 20 overs.
{{/usCountry}}The intense chase also saw some temper flare in the middle with Siraj being in the centre. The incident sparked when a poor throw by Mahipal Lomror prevented Siraj from executing a run-out at the non-striker's end.
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However, the RCB teammates didn't take long to mend things as Siraj was seen apologising to Lomror in a video shared by RCB on their social media channels.
"I am so angry man. Kya naam hain (What's his name) Mahipal, I'm so sorry. I have apologised twice already. I don't carry the aggression off the field. It's all calm down post-match," Siraj can be heard saying in the video, before he started singing popular track: “Baby calm down”.
Lomror's reaction too was caught in the camera. "It's alright Siraj bhai. Bade bade matchon mein aise choti choti baatein hoti rehti hain (Such small things keep happening in such big matches)," he said.
Meanwhile, the outcome saw RCB accumulate eight points, having secured four wins from seven encounters.