Guwahati’s Barsapara Stadium witnessed high drama as Royal Challengers Bengaluru crumbled under pressure, losing to Rajasthan Royals despite a 201-run total. This marked RCB’s seventh failure in IPL history to protect a 200-plus score, now tied with Punjab Kings for the most such collapses.
RR captain’s decision to field first paid dividends. RCB’s batting effort, powered by Rajat Patidar (63), Virat Kohli (32), Venkatesh Iyer (29), and Romario Shepherd (22), set a challenging 202. But RR’s young guns fired back.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s 78-run fireworks (26 balls, 7 sixes, 8 fours) included a 15-ball fifty, setting the tone. Dhruv Jurel’s unbeaten 81 (43 balls, 3 sixes, 8 fours) and Jadeja’s 24 not out sealed a comfortable chase in 18 overs with six wickets in hand.
Historically, this chase is RR’s fifth successful pursuit of 200-plus. Punjab leads with nine, followed by Mumbai (6), SRH (4), and RCB (4). On the flip side, RCB and Punjab now share the ignominy of seven losses defending big scores, ahead of CSK (6) and KKR (5).
The loss is a body blow for momentum-rich RCB. Suryavanshi’s Man of the Match performance underscores RR’s chasing prowess, leaving RCB to regroup amid recurring nightmares of high-score defenses gone wrong.
