Rajasthan Royals (RR) continued their dominant run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, defeating Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by six wickets in the 19th match played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Winning the toss, Rajasthan opted to field first. Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis provided a strong start for RCB, building a 125-run opening partnership. Du Plessis fell to Yuzvendra Chahal in the 14th over, but Kohli continued his impressive form, reaching his eighth IPL century and finishing unbeaten on 113 (his joint-highest score in the league). Despite Kohli’s heroics, RCB’s middle order faltered, with Glenn Maxwell, Saurav Chauhan, and Cameron Green failing to capitalize.
Chahal picked up two wickets to consolidate his lead in the race for the Purple Cap. RCB ended their innings at a respectable 183/3.
In reply, Royals lost opener Yashasvi Jaiswal early. However, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler stitched together a match-winning partnership of 148 runs, marking their third 100+ run stand in IPL history. Samson reached the 4,000-run milestone in the IPL before being dismissed by Mohammed Siraj. While RCB threatened a comeback with the wickets of Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer‘s cameo and a dominant Buttler, celebrating his 100th IPL match with an unbeaten 100, sealed the victory for Rajasthan with five balls to spare. This was Buttler’s sixth IPL century, solidifying his reputation as one of the league’s most destructive batsmen.
For his match-winning knock, Jos Buttler was awarded the Player of the Match trophy.
This win puts Rajasthan Royals on top of the IPL table, winning all four of their matches so far. Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bengaluru remain in eighth place, having won only one and losing four of their five encounters.
Scorecard:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 183/3, Overs 20, Virat Kohli 113* (72), Yuzvendra Chahal 2/34
Rajasthan Royals: 189/4, Overs 19.1, Jos Buttler 100* (58), Reece Topley 2/27