Mitchell Starc once again displayed why he is tipped as the best fast bowler in the world currently, as he produced another match-winning performance for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The Aussie pacer delivered a breathtaking spell of fast bowling, giving just 22 runs in four overs, more importantly dismissing Steve Smith, Stuart Binny and Dhawal Kulkarni, when it mattered the most.
Apart from Starc, Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal finished with two wickets apiece, while Iqbal Abdulla finished with one, while David Weise, although went wicketless, but maintained pressure from the other end.
Riding on superb bowling performance, the Royal Challengers managed to restrict the Rajasthan Royals on a paltry 130 in 20 overs. And, it was always going to be difficult to defend that sort of a total.
The Royals struggled to make partnerships, and whenever they seemed to be making one, the RCB managed to produce a breakthrough. Even Smith, Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson struggled to score freely.
“We didn’t score enough, unfortunately,” Watson said. “RCB outplayed us today and summed up the conditions very well today. Getting 150-160 would have been a decent total probably, this wicket is pretty slow.”
While chasing an under-par total, Chris Gayle and skipper Virat Kohli gave the Royal Challengers a scorching start. And, despite losing Gayle, Kohli continued to score freely with AB de Villiers.
After 10 overs, the RCB were cruising at 81/1 and after that it was just a formality and the Kohli-led side chased down the target with 23 balls to spare by nine wickets.
Kohli, meanwhile, completed his second successive fifty of the tournament, while de Villiers also played a gutsy knock in no time for the RCB.
