Pune: Riyan Parag’s quick-fire fifty followed by seven wickets shared between Kuldeep Sen and Ravichandran Ashwin helped Rajasthan Royals (RR) to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 29 runs in an IPL match here at the MCA Stadium on Tuesday. RR found themselves in a precarious situation early on, with their top order being dismissed cheaply. The side continued to crumble until Parag came into the picture. The 20-year-old upped his game to add 56 runs off 31 balls, dragging RR to post 144/8. Sen (4/20), Ashwin (3/17), and Prasidh Krishna’s (2/23) brilliance then helped RR to defend the lowest total this season as RCB folded for 115. Prasidh struck early, getting the prized wicket of former RCB skipper Virat Kohli (9) who was promoted to open the innings. The right-hander missed the pull and Parag ran in from backward point to take an impressive diving catch. After the powerplay, Sen then removed RCB captain Faf du Plessis (23). The South African tried to go over the cover but ended up giving a catch to Jos Buttler stationed at the region. Sen made it two-in-two as Glenn Maxwell was caught at slip for a golden duck. RR continued to dent RCB’s chase, with Ashwin rattling the middle-order. RCB’s last hope Dinesh Karthik (6) fell short at the non-striker’s end, thanks to Yuzvendra Chahal’s timely run out. Sen and Prasidh then cleaned up the tailenders with three balls to spare. Earlier in the day, Mohammed Siraj (2/30) trapped RR opener Devdutt Padikkal for seven and returned to dismiss Ashwin (17) who was promoted to No.3. The big moment in the match came in the fifth over, when Josh Hazlewood (2/19) got the crucial wicket of Buttler (8), the centurion from his previous outing. The Englishman pulled into the hands of a diving Siraj at mid-on. From hereon, RR couldn’t fully recover until Parag started the rescue mission. Skipper Sanju Samson and Daryl Mitchell tried to take RR out of the troubled waters but couldn’t stay at the crease for long as Wanindu Hasaranga cleaned up Samson for 27 and Hazlewood made Mitchell walk back to the dugout for 16. It was Parag whose quick hitting helped RR reach the 100-run mark at the end of 15 overs. Although Shimron Hetmyer too was dismissed cheaply, Parag continued to add as many runs as possible to his team’s scoreboard. Along the way, he also registered his half-century off just 29 balls. UNI PN
