Josh Hazlewood Leads RCB to Victory Over Rajasthan Royals in Thrilling IPL Match

Hazlewood's Stellar Performance Secures RCB's Home Win

In a gripping IPL encounter on Thursday, Josh Hazlewood played a pivotal role in securing Royal Challengers Bengaluru's first home victory of the season, defeating Rajasthan Royals by 11 runs. Hazlewood's exceptional bowling in the crucial final over was instrumental in this win.

The loss for Rajasthan Royals means they are now out of contention for a playoff spot, having suffered seven defeats in nine matches.

With RR needing 18 runs from the last 12 balls, Hazlewood (4 wickets for 33 runs) delivered a stunning over, claiming two wickets while conceding just one run, halting the Royals at 194 for nine in their chase of 206 runs at the packed Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal's explosive innings of 49 runs off 19 balls and Dhruv Jurel's commendable 47 runs off 34 balls, RR faced their fifth consecutive defeat.

Earlier, RCB's Virat Kohli (70 runs off 42 balls) and Devdutt Padikkal (50 runs off 27 balls) formed a solid partnership, contributing significantly to the team's total.

Set a target of 206, RR started aggressively with Jaiswal and 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi scoring 52 runs in just 27 balls before Suryavanshi was dismissed by a knuckleball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar after hitting two sixes.

Jaiswal began the innings with a six and continued to dominate, hitting Hazlewood for multiple boundaries. However, Hazlewood eventually got his revenge, dismissing Jaiswal and shifting the momentum back to RCB.

By the end of the powerplay, RR had reached 72 for two, with Riyan Parag (22 runs off 10 balls) looking promising before falling to Krunal Pandya. Hazlewood also took the wicket of Shimron Hetmyer, further tilting the game in RCB's favor.

Earlier in the match, RCB, batting first after losing the toss, managed to score over 200 runs, aided by Jitesh Sharma (20 not out off 10 balls) and Tim David (23 off 15 balls), who provided crucial late innings runs.