For the third time in IPL 2023, Royal Challengers Bangalore held onto a total. They
overcame a 50-for-7 collapse at the finish of their innings to tie the table-toppers
Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals on points.
The game has odd, arhythmic twists and turns. The highlight of RCB’s victory was a quick-fire 127-run partnership between Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis, which they put together at 12 for 2, which may have made the pitch appear easier than it actually was. Their partnership took just 11.1 overs.
The pitch was mysterious on its own. RCB decided to bat first since they were unsure if the pitch would slow down because it was dry, whereas Royals preferred to chase. The Royals continued to not employ Jason Holder’s batting even though they were bowling first and failed to include a single hitter on their list of replacements. The Impact Player rule allowed RCB to use two players who otherwise wouldn’t have played: du Plessis with his rib trouble and Harshal Patel with a finger injury that made batting challenging for him. Both eventually contributed significantly.
The game has odd, arhythmic twists and turns. The highlight of RCB’s victory was a quick-fire 127-run partnership between Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis, which they put together at 12 for 2, which may have made the pitch appear easier than it actually was. Their partnership took just 11.1 overs.
The pitch was mysterious on its own. RCB decided to bat first since they were unsure if the pitch would slow down because it was dry, whereas Royals preferred to chase. The Royals continued to not employ Jason Holder’s batting even though they were bowling first and failed to include a single hitter on their list of replacements. The Impact Player rule allowed RCB to use two players who otherwise wouldn’t have played: du Plessis with his rib trouble and Harshal Patel with a finger injury that made batting challenging for him. Both eventually contributed significantly.
The endgame
The equation was still within reach with Samson and Shimron Hetmyer still present.
In the 15th, Samson overcame Hasaranga, but in the 16th, a well-timed late cut put
short third, mirroring Maxwell’s defeat earlier in the day.
The Royals required 65 points off of 28 at that point, which is not unheard of, but Hetmyer got trapped and failed to make a single clean contact. Hetmyer may not have been able to strike even one of the nine balls he encountered cleanly because, as Mohammed Siraj later said, the ball was reversing at the finish
Dhruv Jorel gave RR a chance to survive with 34 off 16, but he didn’t take charge of the partnership with Ashwin. He took a suicide second off the final ball of the 19th over, allowing Ashwin to bowl the final over
Despite getting lucky with two boundaries in the last over and needing 10 runs off the next three deliveries, Ashwin also holed out to a slower ball. Holder, who has only faced two balls in this IPL, was still not sent out by RR, and Abdul Basith, a rookie, still had much work to do.
The Royals required 65 points off of 28 at that point, which is not unheard of, but Hetmyer got trapped and failed to make a single clean contact. Hetmyer may not have been able to strike even one of the nine balls he encountered cleanly because, as Mohammed Siraj later said, the ball was reversing at the finish
Dhruv Jorel gave RR a chance to survive with 34 off 16, but he didn’t take charge of the partnership with Ashwin. He took a suicide second off the final ball of the 19th over, allowing Ashwin to bowl the final over
Despite getting lucky with two boundaries in the last over and needing 10 runs off the next three deliveries, Ashwin also holed out to a slower ball. Holder, who has only faced two balls in this IPL, was still not sent out by RR, and Abdul Basith, a rookie, still had much work to do.