Josh Hazlewood kept getting his team back in it as Royal Challengers Bengaluru posted their first win on their home turf after three defeats in IPL 2025. A sixth victory in the ninth match boosted their playoff chances and made them joint-leaders in terms of points. Rajasthan Royals lost a third successive game they looked like winning to remain on four points after nine games.
The total of 205 posted by RCB was under threat for a large part of the RR innings, but Hazlewood and Krunal Pandya took wickets at crucial junctures while Suyash Sharma bowled economically to derail the chase. RR fought hard to bring the equation down to 18 runs off the last two overs, before the Australia fast bowler dismissed Dhruv Jurel and stuck again next ball. Hazlewood finished with 4/33. Pandya took 2/31. A number of RR batters got starts, but none reached 50 as they fell short by 11 runs to the delight of the crowd at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The RR reply began on a rousing note as Yashasvi Jaiswal came out with an intention of throwing his bat at everything. The left-hander smashed 49 off 19 and the total after 10 overs read 113/3. The worry for RR was the fall of wickets and that made the difference in the end. Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag and Jurel promised a lot. In the end, they all fell short. The match seemed to have turned RR’s way after Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded 22 in the 18th over. That’s when Hazlewood delivered that decisive over.
The RCB innings was based on Virat Kohli’s 70 off 42 balls and Devdutt Padikkal’s 27-ball 50. These two added 95 for the second wicket to lay the foundation. It was Kohli’s fifth half-century of the season. Padikkal brought up his second successive fifty-plus score. There were no sixes in the RCB innings after 13 overs. One they started coming, there were a few.
RCB lost wickets in the middle, when the RR bowlers led by Wanindu Hasaranga tried to keep things quiet. Joffra Archer bowled some fiery deliveries to keep the batters from scoring. Tim David and Jitesh Sharma added quick and important runs towards the end to push the total beyond 200. It didn’t appear to be enough at one point, before Hazlewood changed the course of the match.