Riyan Parag scored 56 off 31 balls.
In the ongoing IPL 2022, Rajasthan Royals (RR) all-rounder Riyan Parag was exceptional against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Tuesday, slamming 56 not out off 31 balls with four sixes and three fours to propel RR to 144/8 at the end of the first innings.
Kuldeep Sen's four-wicket haul and Riyan Parag's unbeaten 56-run knock propelled Rajasthan Royals to a 29-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore at MCA stadium.
RCB were never really in it, as they were eventually bowled out for 115 in 19.3 overs. During the RCB innings, Parag had four catches to his credit. After being named Player of the Match, Parag thanked the RR team for believing in him and expressed satisfaction with his performance against Bangalore.
"A bit of satisfaction. The Royals have shown faith in me for the last three years,and I am paying them back bit by bit. I love pressure and I am just showcasing my abilities. During the time-out, Sanga came out and we agreed that 140 was a good total on this wicket. We decided to go big in the last two overs. I wanted to target Hasaranga in his second over, but we lost wickets, and so I had to strategize and go after Hazlewood and Harshal," Riyan Parag said in a post-match presentation.
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RCB had a bad start in the match, chasing 145 runs, as their star batter Virat Kohli's poor run with the bat continued, as he departed after scoring only 9 runs in the second over.
Faf du Plessis, the captain, was joined by Rajat Patidar, and the duo attempted to give Bangalore some impetus, but the former was caught by Jos Buttler in the seventh over with only 37 runs on the board. Then came Glenn Maxwell's wicket on the next delivery, bringing RCB's total to 37/3.
Patidar was joined by Shahbaz Ahmed, who batted at the top of the order for a while. With the team's score at 58/4, Patidar went back to the dugout in the 10th over. With 30 runs needed to win in the final over, Kuldeep Sen hammered the final nail in the coffin by taking Harshal Patel's wicket to give Rajasthan a 29-run triumph.
Rajasthan Royals climbed to the top of the points table with this victory, having won six of their last eight games. Royal Challengers Bangalore, on the other side, stayed in fifth place after winning five of their nine games.
(With ANI Inputs)