Hazlewood takes four as Bengaluru beat Rajasthan by 11 runs in IPL

JOSH HAZLEWOOD took 4 for 33 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Rajasthan Royals by 11 runs in their IPL match on Thursday. Rajasthan had won the toss and chose to field first.

Chasing a target of 206, Rajasthan were in a strong position before Hazlewood dismissed Dhruv Jurel in the 19th over. Jurel had scored 47 off 34 balls. He was out with 17 runs needed off 9 balls.

Hazlewood then removed Jofra Archer on the next delivery, leaving Rajasthan needing 17 off the final over.

Earlier, Virat Kohli scored 70 off 42 balls to help Bengaluru reach 205 for 5 on a batting-friendly pitch.

Kohli and Phil Salt added 59 runs in the powerplay. Salt was dismissed for 26 in the seventh over with the score at 61 for 1.

Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal added 95 runs before Kohli fell to Archer in the 16th over. Padikkal made 50 off 27 balls and was out soon after with the score at 161 for 3.

Bengaluru lost quick wickets at the end, but contributions from Tim David (23) and Jitesh Sharma (20 not out) helped them cross 200.

Archer took 1 for 33 for Rajasthan. Sandeep Sharma picked up 2 for 45 and Wanindu Hasaranga finished with 1 for 30.

In reply, Rajasthan’s top-order batters started well and were ahead of the required rate during the first half of the innings.

Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 49 off 19 balls before being dismissed by Hazlewood. His opening partner, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, made 16 and was out to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who ended with figures of 1 for 50.

Krunal Pandya took key middle-overs wickets, dismissing Nitish Rana (28) and Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag (22).

Rajasthan were in control until Rana’s dismissal in the 14th over, but the middle order could not convert starts into match-winning scores.

"I think we did really well with the ball... We held them back really well," Parag said after the match. "With the batting, I thought at the halfway mark we were in the driving seat," he added. But "we have ourselves to blame... (The team was) in the driving seat and we let it slip".

Player-of-the-match Hazlewood said that he "was just sticking to my strengths". He added, "I knew hard lengths were hard to hit so I was mixing that up with yorkers, change of pace."

(With inputs from agencies)