Images from the IPL 2025 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Josh Hazlewood scalped four wickets in a brilliant spell as Royal Challengers Bengaluru staged a stunning comeback to edge Rajasthan Royals by 11 runs in a thrilling IPL 2025 match on Thursday.
Chasing 206 for victory, RR choked at the end to finish on 194/9 in 20 overs to lose their fifth match on the trot.
The defeat meant RR are all but out of the reckoning for a place in play-offs berth in the IPL 2025. They have lost seven matches out of nine.
Royals looked on course for victory with 18 needed from the last two overs and five wickets in hand. However, Hazlewood finished off their hopes with the crucial wicket of the well-set Dhruv Jurel, who was given out caught behind off the review, after scoring 47 from 34 balls.
Jofra Archer perished off the next ball, caught in the covers for a duck as the RCB pacer conceded just a single in the 19th over to turned the game in its head.
Yash Dayal also bagged two wickets in the final over as RCB claimed their first victory at home this season after three successive defeats.
Hazlewood's heroics meant Yashasvi Jaiswal's (49 off 19 balls) blazing knock at the top of the order and Dhruv Jurel's (47 off 34 balls) valiant effort went in vain as RR suffered their fifth defeat on the trot.
This was after RCB star batter Virat Kohli (70 off 42 balls) and Devdutt Padikkal (50 off 27 balls) controlled the middle overs with a partnership of 95 for the second wicket.
Set a target of 206, RR's start was brutal with Jaiswal and 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi amassing 52 runs in 27 balls before the latter was bowled by a Bhuvneshwar Kumar knuckle ball after the teenager went for one too many, having hit two sixes in his 16-run knock.
Suryavanshi was RR's impact player.
Jaiswal, who began the RR innings with a six on the leg side off Bhuvneshwar, smashed Yash Dayal for 18 runs as the visitors started the chase in earnest.
The swashbuckling Jaiswal then went after Hazlewood and clobbered the experienced Australian pacer for three successive fours in an eventful over that also comprised three dot balls.
Not content with his punishment of Hazlewood, Jaiswal hit the Australian for two more fours and a six over the wicketkeeper.
However, after being taken to the cleaners, Hazlewood had the last laugh as he cut short Jaiswal's whirlwind stay when he crammed the batter for room and forced him to pull one straight to Romario Shepherd at midwicket.
RR, nevertheless, had raced to 72 for two by the end of power play as Riyan Parag (22 off 10 balls) walked into the middle.
Enduring an indifferent run of form, Parag looked in the mood on the night and smoked Suyash Sharma, RCB's impact sub, for a maximum over deep square leg.
Parag, however, could not sustain it for long as Krunal Pandya put RCB ahead with the wicket of the stand-in skipper and Nitish Rana (28 off 22 balls).
Hazlewood accounted for the wicket of Shimron Hetmyer, as the game swung in favour of RCB with RR still needing quite a lot.
Earlier, on a sticky pitch where stroke-making was not easy, RCB were also well-served by Jitesh Sharma (20 not out off 10 balls) and Tim David (23 off 15 balls), who struck some lusty blows to take RCB past 200.
Earlier, on a sticky pitch where stroke-making was not easy, RCB were also well-served by Jitesh Sharma (20 not out off 10 balls) and Tim David (23 off 15 balls), who struck some lusty blows to take RCB past 200.
The in-form duo of Kohli (70 off 42 balls) and Padikkal (50 off 27) controlled the middle overs with a fluent partnership of 95 for the second wicket.
Put into bat after losing their fourth toss at home this season, RCB were off to a decent start after an eventful first over by Jofra Archer, who conceded 11 runs, including bowling a 149.8km bumper that bounced over the keeper for five wides.
There was drama in the second over too, as Riyan Parag, leading RR in the absence of injured Sanju Samson, put down a tough catch off Phil Salt (26 off 23 balls) at mid-off after getting both hands to the ball off the bowling of Fazalhaq Farooqi.
After getting a boundary off a thick inside edge, Kohli pulled Archer for a four to the deep square leg region.
With RR looking for their breakthrough, medium pacer Tushar Deshpande was introduced into the attack, and Salt welcomed him with two boundaries on either side of the wicket.
Back on strike, Kohli flicked a Deshpande delivery that was asking to be punished for a boundary as RCB crossed 50 in the fifth over. With another lovely hit to the fence, off Sandeep Sharma, Kohli helped RCB finish the Powerplay with 59 runs on the board.
Spinner Wanindu Hasaranga gave RR their first breakthrough when he had Salt caught at deep midwicket after the batter got a leading edge as he shaped up to hoick the ball.
Kohli got to his half-century from 32 balls -- his fifth of the season and first at home, after hitting Sandeep for back to back fours.
At the other end, Padikkal was in his element as he kept scoring boundaries at will and was also helped by a drop catch by Deshpande in the deep off Hasaranga.
Kohli and Padikkal then started dealing in sixes against Parag and Deshpande, with the latter getting smashed for three maximums in the 15th over, which fetched RCB 22 runs and took their score to a strong 156/1.
Jofra was brought back into the attack and the England pacer got instant success, as he dismissed Kohli with a slow leg-cutter.
Padikkal followed suit as he hit a Sandeep slower ball to Nitish Rana, who completed what should have been a simple take at extra cover after fumbling multiple times.
RCB captain Rajat Patidar perished cheaply after scoring just one as the hosts lost four wickets for 49 runs in the last five overs.