Rajasthan Royals slumped to yet another heartbreaking loss in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 after going down to Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 11 runs in a last-over thriller at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
This marks a string of three close defeats for the Royals in IPL 2025, having lost to Delhi Capitals in Super Over and Lucknow Super Giants by just two runs in the preceding matches.
Electing to field first, the Rajasthan Royals kept RCB to 205/5 in 20 overs. Sandeep Sharma, with figures of 2/45 runs, was the top wicket-taker for RR while Wanindu Hasaranga (1/30) and Jofra Archer (1/33) also chipped in with wickets.
In reply, Rajasthan were placed comfortably for a win courtesy Yashasvi Jaiswal (49) and Dhruv Jurel (47) but a fine penultimate over by Josh Hazlewood turned the match on its head.
The loss kept the Royals eighth on the IPL 2025 points table with four points from nine games.
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Jofra Archer gave Rajasthan a fiery start with the ball but Royal Challengers Bengaluru weathered the early storm through a brisk opening stand.
Phil Salt and Virat Kohli put on 59 without loss in the powerplay, setting the tone for a big total.
Wanindu Hasaranga broke the opening stand in the seventh over, removing Salt, but Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal kept the momentum going with a 95-run partnership for the second wicket. RCB looked well on course at 156/1 after 15 overs.
However, Archer returned to dent the scoring with the key wicket of Kohli, before Sandeep Sharma landed a double blow in the next over, dismissing Padikkal and Rajat Patidar to leave RCB at 163/4. Despite the wobble, the hosts rallied with a strong finish to post 205/5.
Yashasvi Jaiswal launched the Royals’ chase with a six off the first ball off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He followed up by taking 18 runs off the next one bowled by Yash Dayal.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, IPL’s youngest debutant, also hit two maximums in his 16-run knock in 12 balls but the 52-run partnership was broken in the fifth over. Yashasvi Jaiswal was caught out on 49 runs off 18 balls in the sixth over - just one run short of what would have been his fourth straight half-century this season.
Nitish Rana (28) and captain Riyan Parag (22) kept the scoreboard ticking, but losing both in quick succession saw the Royals’ scoring rate take a major hit. Shimron Hetmyer also departed for cheap while trying to pick up the scoring rate.
Dhruv Jurel and Shubham Dubey then joined forces in the middle to bring the Royals back into the contest and the visitors seemed firmly in control with 18 to get off the final two overs.
Josh Hazlewood, however, turned the match on its head yet again in the penultimate over by dismissing Jurel and Archer off consecutive deliveries and giving away just one run. Hazlewood finished the match with figures of 4/33.
Yash Dayal then defended 17 off the last over as the Rajasthan Royals fell short by 11 runs.
The Rajasthan Royals will play the Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in their next match on Monday.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2025, brief scores: RCB 205/5 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 70; Sandeep Sharma 2/45) beat RR 194/9 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 49; Josh Hazlewood 4/33) by 11 runs.
