M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru: IPL 2025 mein Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ne apne home ground ka ‘bad luck’ tod diya as they defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 11 runs in a thriller on April 24. Yeh RCB ki season ki pehli home win thi, jo teen consecutive home losses ke baad aayi.
RCB ke top-order mein Virat Kohli aur Devdutt Padikkal ne dhamaka kiya with fiery fifties. Fir Josh Hazlewood (4/33) ne bowling mein aag laga di, jisme unka perfect support kiya Krunal Pandya aur Suyash Sharma ne with their tight spin spells. RR 206 ka target chase karte hue 193/9 tak hi pahunch paayi.
Match ka turning point? Bilkul clear tha — jab RR 110/2 par comfortable thi, tabhi Krunal Pandya ne aakar Riyan Parag (22 off 10) ko out karke pura flow tod diya. Suyash ke saath milkar unhone middle overs mein RR ke momentum ko pura slow kar diya. Dhruv Jurel (47 off 34) ne zarur koshish ki, but Josh Hazlewood ke 19th over mein double strikes ne game ko seal kar diya.
“Humne ball ke saath kaafi accha kiya. Lag raha tha yeh 210-215 ka wicket hai, but unhe 206 pe rokna kaafi acchi baat thi. Batting mein halfway tak hum driver’s seat mein the, lekin spinners ke against humne intent nahi dikhaya,” Riyan Parag ne post-match presentation mein bola.
“Mental aspect zarur hota hai, lekin support staff hume freedom dete hain. Galtiyaan chhoti hoti hain, par IPL jaise tournament mein woh bhi costly hoti hain. Ab hume pride ke liye khelna hoga. Fans aur franchise ke liye kuch karna hoga. Yeh game aur jersey dono ke liye grateful rehna chahiye,” unhone aur bhi add kiya.
RCB ki yeh jeet unhe points table mein third position tak le gayi with 6 wins. Dusri taraf, RR ka downfall continue raha as they slipped to 8th spot with their seventh loss of the season. RCB ab agla match khele gi against Delhi Capitals on April 27, while RR will try to bounce back vs Gujarat Titans on April 28 in Jaipur.
