IPL: Riyan Parag slams 56 before Rajasthan Royals' bowlers subdue Royal Challengers Bangalore

Virat Kohli fell for nine despite opening the batting as RCB, chasing a modest 145 to win, still were bundled out for 115 in Pune

It was shaping up to be a match Royal Challengers Bangalore couldn’t have lost. That hope was dealt a sucker blow two balls in a row. Served a length ball, Faf du Plessis lined up to smash it through cover. Instead, he found Jos Buttler’s bucket hands. Next ball, Kuldeep Sen brought in a wide slip, leg gully and deep point around Glen Maxwell—tell-tale signs of an impending short ball - but drew him into a half-hearted push at a length ball to nick to Devdutt Padikkal at slip.

RCB hadn't faced Chahal and Ashwin before they lost Kohli, Maxwell and Du Plessis.  (BCCI)

Thirty-nine balls up, Virat Kohli, du Plessis and Maxwell back in the hut, RCB still hadn’t faced a ball from Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin. When they finally did, RCB imploded spectacularly. Rajat Patidar was cleaned up by Ashwin, Suyash Prabhudessai holed out at long-on but the biggest scalp came in the form of Dinesh Karthik, who was run out by Chahal after fumbling with the throw. Rajasthan Royals thought they hadn’t got their man but replays showed Chahal had still managed to get his hand on the ball with Karthik giving up returning to the crease early. Defeat descended swiftly on RCB after that as they folded for 115, handing Royals a 29-run win.

The manner in which RCB fluffed a sub-150 run chase shows how fragile they still are as a batting unit after being rolled over for 68 in the previous match. The bowlers had a better day though, finishing with their best powerplay after reducing Royals to 43/3. All the necessary boxes were ticked. Buttler, in dream form, couldn’t get off the blocks. Ashwin was tried at No 3 but it did not come off either. Padikkal picked Mohammed Siraj over mid-off for a huge six but Siraj bounced back with a full length ball that crashed into his pads for a leg-before.

Urgency to build a solid partnership despite the quick breakthroughs was missing though. As long as Sanju Samson was playing straight, he was clearing the ground with ease. But the innings once again threatened to come apart after Samson was bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga trying to play a reverse sweep. Riyan Parag (56—31b, 3x4, 4x6) steadied the ship though, keeping the score ticking till he went ballistic in the last two overs, adding 30 runs, taking Royals to 144 and scoring a fifty in the process.

All RCB needed from there was an assured start. And they started with the right intent too, opening with Kohli, who stepped out to bat with two golden ducks to his name. If there is one position Kohli has owned in IPL it’s the opening slot where he has scored five hundreds, 18 fifties and has an outstanding average of over 43 at a strike rate of 136.68. But Kohli looked scratchy. The cover drive wasn’t coming on. An inside edge made it look worse. When Prasidh Krishna’s short ball finally caught the toe end of Kohli’s bat to balloon to Parag at point, you could tell it’s not a technical problem anymore.