Bharat, Maxwell clinch an easy win for Bangalore

DUBAI: KS Bharat and Glenn Maxwell were the chief contributors in Royal Challengers Bangalore clinching a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in match 43 of IPL 2021 at Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday. The win increases Bangalore's points to 14 while retaining their third place in the points table. Chasing 150, Bangalore were off to a flying start as Virat Kohli slammed Chris Morris for three boundaries in the opening over. Devdutt Padikkal crunched Kartik Tyagi for two boundaries in the second over before slamming Mustafizur Rahman for a brace of boundaries in the next over. Bangalore were 48 for no loss in five overs before Padikkal, dropped at six, swung across the line, only for Rahman to disturb the stumps. In the next over, Kohli tried to sneak a run on a misfield by Riyan Parag at backward point. But a direct hit from Parag caught Kohli short of the crease at non-striker's end.

Bharat and Maxwell stitched a stand of 69 runs for the third wicket. The duo smashed boundaries while rotating the strike, which kept the asking rate under check. Bharat was more impressive of the two, slog-sweeping Chris Morris for a big six before playing a gentle reverse sweep off Rahul Tewatia. Rahman broke the partnership in the 16th over as Bharat pulled straight to fine leg. After Bharat's dismissal, Maxwell whipped Morris for a six over mid-wicket followed by three fours, the last of which brought up his fifty in 30 balls. AB de Villiers finished off the chase with a sweep through square leg off Parag to seal an easy win for Bangalore.

Earlier, RCB restricted Rajasthan Royals at 149/9 in 20 overs.

It was quite a fall for Rajasthan, who were 100/1 in eleven overs. But the 2008 champions lost eight wickets for 49 runs in the last nine overs to end at a below-par total after being asked to bat first. Riyan Parag contributed 9 runs on the board.

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 149/9 in 20 overs (Evin Lewis 58, Yashasvi Jaiswal 31, Shahbaz Ahmed 2/10, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/18) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 153/3 in 17.1 overs (Glenn Maxwell 50 not out, KS Bharat 44, Mustafizur Rahman 2/20) by seven wickets. (IANS)

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