Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, DC, CSK, IPL
AB de Villiers [Photo-Twitter]

Another whirlwind knock by AB de Villiers [55 not-out off 22 balls] and some pathetic death bowling by Rajasthan Royals [RR] in the end, has helped Royal Challengers Bangalore [RCB] to notch up their sixth win of the Dream11 IPL.

Chasing 178, RCB once again lost their opening batsman, Aaron Finch, cheaply during the powerplay.

Finch, who had thumped Jofra Archer for two monstrous sixes, once again succumbed against spin. And, it was once again Shreyas Gopal who got the better of the Australian opener.

Post Finch’s dismissal, Devdutt Padikkal, and Virat Kohli milked RR’s bowling for the better part of the next 10 overs, stitching 79 runs between.

RCB, RR
Virat kohli and Devdutt Padikkal [Photo-IPL]
The duo, especially Virat Kohli, who had smashed 2 sixes and a four during his 32-ball 43, were looking prime for yet another match-winning partnership before both fell on successive deliveries to give another twist to the game.

RCB, RR
Rahul Tewtia [Photo-Twitter]
While Padikkal (35 off 37 balls) holed out at long-on against Rahul Tewatia, Virat Kohli was brilliantly caught at the deep mid-wicket boundary by that man again, Tewatia.

With 74 needed off the last six overs, RCB needed a bit of AB de Villiers magic. And, they got exactly that from Mr. 360 as he smashed an unbeaten 22-ball 55.

AB smashed Archer, Unadkat, and Kartik for two sixes and a four in the next three overs to reduce the equation to 35 off 12 balls. AB started the 19th over by launching Jaydev Unadkat for back-to-back monstrous sixes over deep mid-wicket to bring the equation down to 23 of 10.

RCB, RR
AB de Villiers [Photo-Twitter]
Unadkat didn’t learn from his mistakes as he followed it up with a half-tracker and ABD went on to smoke it for yet another six. Gurkeerat Singh Mann joined the party to smash Unadkat for four past covers.

Unadkat gave 25 runs in his over, meaning that RCB needed just 10 to win the game, which AB de Villiers rightfully achieved with another audacious six off Archer.

Robin Uthappa’s belligerence at the top and Steve Smith’s half-century propelled RR to 6-177 against RCB

We once again saw a new opening pair walking out to bat for the Rajasthan Royals, with Robin Uthappa swapping with Jos Buttler.

RCB, RR
Robin Uthappa. (Credits: IPLT20.com)

Uthappa displayed his vintage form in the batting powerplay as he took the attack to the likes of Washington Sundar and Isuru Udana.

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Ben Stokes struggled to get going throughout his knock of 19-ball 15, and he was eventually dismissed while trying to pull a Chris Morris (4-26) delivery, only to give AB de Villiers an easy catch.

Yuzvendra Chahal (2-34) knocked over Robin Uthappa (41 off 22 balls) and Sanju Samson (9 off 6 balls) within a space of two deliveries in the 8th over to reduce RR to 3-69.

RCB, RR
Steve Smith and Jos Buttler [Photo-Twitter]
Skipper Steve Smith finally regained his form as he stroked his third half-century of the season, and it was his partnerships with Jos Buttler (24 off 25 balls) and Rahul Tewatia, who smashed an 11-ball 19, that RR was able to post 6-177 in 20 overs.

RCB, RR
Chris Morris [Photo-Twitter]
Chris Morris was once again the pick of RCB bowlers. Besides claiming Stokes in the opening spell, Morris returned to dismiss both Steve Smith (57 off 36 balls), Jos Buttler, and then Jofra Archer to end up with figures of 4-26 in 4 overs.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to RCB’s win over RR:

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