RCB vs RR: Devdutt Padikkal scores half-century gave RR some hope during run chase against Royal Challengers Bangalore

The first clash on Sunday, April 23 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 got underway as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) went up against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. RR won the toss and invited RCB to bat first. The hosts got off to a terrible start but managed to set a competitive target (190) for the visitors.

Chasing 190, RR also got off to the worst possible start as opener Jos Buttler was dismissed for a two-ball duck with a jaffa from Mohammed Siraj. However, Devdutt Padikkal came in and led RR's recovery by scoring a brilliant half-century, his first in the ongoing season. He smashed 52 off 34 deliveries, which included seven boundaries and one maximum.

The 22-year-old batter made a 98-run stand with Jaiswal before being dismissed by David Willey in the 12th over. Yashasvi 47(37) was also removed quickly by Harshal Patel as Shimron Hetmyer and skipper Sanju Samson took charge for the run chase ahead. Harshal struck once again as he dismissed the RR skipper with the second ball of the 15th over. He could manage to score only 22 runs from 15 deliveries.

Royal Challengers Bangalore could not finish well despite the fifties from Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell

Rajasthan got off to a flying start, packing Virat Kohli on a golden duck, thanks to Trent Boult's bowling efforts. RR soon found another turning point as Boult Struck again to dismiss Shahbaz Ahmed. Even though, Boult jolted RCB and reduced them to 12/2 in 2.1 overs, opener Faf du Plessis and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell smashed blistering half-centuries for RCB to stay alive in the game.

Maxwell and Plessis added 127(67) runs for the third wicket. Yashasvi ended du Plessis' knock with a direct hit while Ravichandran Ashwin removed Maxwell. Faf du Plessis scored 62 off 39, Maxwell scored 77 off 44 and wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik scored 16 runs and helped RCB to score 189 in 20 overs. Apart from Boult, Sandeep Sharma also grabbed wickets in the first innings. However, considering the stage after 15 overs, RCB were hoping to finish well by getting past the 200-run mark but that did not happen

Despite this, RCB bowlers bowled well through the run chase of RR and kept taking wickets at regular intervals. Consequently, RCB defeated RR by seven runs. Glenn Maxwell was adjudged the Player of the Match at the end of the game.