Winning the toss and electing to bat first, RCB got off to a good start and posted a total of 171/5 in their allotted 20 overs. Faf du Plessis (55) and Glenn Maxwell (54) were the star performers with the bat for the Bangalore-based franchise. Meanwhile, Adam Zampa and KM Asif were the pick of the bowlers for RR as they grabbed two wickets each for their team.
In response, Rajasthan had a terrible start, and their batting was a complete disaster. They lost their openers for duck and never really recovered from thereon. Although Shimron Hetmyer top-scored for his team with a quickfire 35 off 19 balls, the Rajasthan-based team were bowled out for just 59 in 10.3 overs. Wayne Parnell and Karn Sharma were the chief destroyers for RCB with the ball, bagging three and two scalps, respectively.
Apart from RCB’s exceptional bowling performance, what caught the attention of cricket enthusiasts was the brilliant MS Dhoni-like run-out from Anuj Rawat in the contest.
The genius from Anuj came on the sixth ball of the eighth over when Hetmyer tried to steal a double off Parnell’s delivery. The Uttarakhand cricketer brilliantly collected the quick throw from Mohammed Siraj and back flicked it into the stumps from between his legs. The direct hit stunned the non-striker Ravichandran Ashwin, who was caught short of the crease. Notably, Ashwin departed for a duck without facing a ball.
The work of brilliance from Anuj reminded many of the legendary cricketer Dhoni who pulled off many such run-outs in his illustrious career.
Here’s the video:
With the win, RCB have now moved up to the fifth spot in the IPL 2023 points table. On the other hand, RR slipped to the sixth position.
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