Rajasthan Royals (RR) suffered a crushing nine-wicket defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2025 match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Sunday (April 13).
Chasing 174 to win, RCB opener Phil Salt took the RR bowling attack to the cleaners. Salt slammed 65 off 33 balls (5 fours and 6 sixes) before getting out in the ninth over.
After his dismissal, Virat Kohli put a pedal on accelerator and went on to score 62* off 45 balls. Kohli sealed the chase along with Devdutt Padikkal, who stayed unbeaten on 40 off 28 balls.
Following the game, RR skipper Sanju Samson credited RCB’s "better intent" for the visitors' comprehensive victory, though he acknowledged that his side's 173-run total was defendable.
"After losing the toss on a slow wicket, 170-odd was a really good score. It was hard to bat in the powerplay," said Samson, following the team's second successive defeat.
"Knew Salt and Kohli would come hard at us. They won the game in the powerplay," he added. The captain refused to blame the several dropped catches by his butter-fingered fielders.
"They (RCB players) dropped our catches, we also dropped their catches. It is okay, they batted better. Have to give it to RCB, their intent was better. Got to say toss helped. I would have liked to take this game to the 19th or 20th over.
"People have been honest in saying they committed some mistakes. We are in a good mindset. We have to put this game behind us, come back fresh," Samson stated.
On the other hand, RCB skipper Rajat Patidar lauded the contribution of Virat Kohli, who used his vast experience on domestic pitches to make it a one-sided contest.
"The wicket was not easy to bat, we targeted 150-170. Really enjoyed (Salt) batting from dugout. The way VK (Kohli) bhai rotated the strike was special. We are not a team that looks at venue, we look to play positive and good cricket," said Patidar.
Padikkal, who shared an 83-run stand with Kohli, said the win augurs well for the upcoming home game against Punjab Kings on April 18.
"In T20, one or two overs can change the game and that's derailing the innings. I am sure we'll translate this (win) at home," he said.
(With PTI Inputs)
