WATCH: NITISH RANA COMES UP WITH HILARIOUS POSE AFTER TAKING JUGGLING CATCH TO END DEVDUTT PADIKKAL’S 50-RUN KNOCK

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batters took full toll of the amazing batting that was on offer to put Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) bowlers to the sword. Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli made merry with the bat after Riyan Parag won the toss and chose to bowl in match 42 of Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday night. 

Devdutt Padikkal played an aggressive innings to reach yet another fifty for the season. In the first ball of the 16th over bowled by Sandeep Sharma, the left-handed batter from RCB tried to clear the field. Padikkal though was unable to get his timing right. Nitish Rana who was standing in the circle took the catch after juggling the ball. Once the catch was completed, Rana laid down on the ground and came up with a hilarious pose. 

Earlier in the day, RR skipper Riyan Parag had dropped an easy catch of Phil Salt when the batter had just scored a single run. Royal Challengers Bengaluru batted well to score a massive 205 for the loss of five wickets from their 20 over. Jofra Archer bowled a terrific last over and ended his night with figures of 1/33 from his four overs. 

Virat Kohli slams yet another fifty as RCB set RR daunting target 

Phil Salt made full use of the early chance given to him and scored 26 off 23 balls with the help of four boundaries. The first wicket stand between Salt and Kohli yielded 61 runs before Padikkal joined the fray and added 95 runs for the second wicket. That stand came in 51 balls as both players put RR’s bowlers under attack. 

Virat Kohli was out after scoring 70 runs from 42 balls with the help of eight boundaries and two sixes. Archer ended Kohli’s knock when the former RCB skipper offered a simple catch to Rana in the first ball of the 16th over. Skipper Rajat Patidar was out after scoring just one run caught by Dhruv Jurel off Sandeep Sharma. 

Tim David and Jitesh Sharma gave the innings the impetus and helped RCB breach the 200-run mark. David scored 23 off 15 balls with two fours and a six, while Jitesh Sharma was not out on 20 off 10 balls. Highest wicket taker for RR was Sandeep Sharma who took two for 45 from his four overs. The Royals will have to bat well to score 206 not only to win the game but also keep their faint playoffs hopes alive.  

2025-04-24T16:01:02Z