11:39pm There you go! A sweet, smiling chat with Parag, who was pretty much everywhere today, to cap off an excellent win for the Royals. That's that from our coverage for tonight. Tomorrow, Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad clash at the Wankhede. Do join us then. On behalf of Andrew and the scorers, I, S. Sudarshanan, bid you goodbye. Ciao, aficionados!

The player of the match for his 56* off 31 to go with his four catches is Riyan Parag: A little bit of satisfaction. The Royals have backed me for the last three years and I am paying off bit by bit. I love pressure and try to showcase my abilities and do my best. During the timeout, we agreed on 140 to be a good score and we tried that and worked well in the end. Hasaranga's second over to me, I wanted to target him but had to curtail it because we lost wickets and then go after Hazlewood and Harshal.

Akshaye: "Also pretty impressive how RR are top of the table after losing 7 out of 8 tosses!"

Sanju Samson, RR captain: Really great win looking at the start we had. It was looking dicey after the 15 overs and it all thanks to a certain Riyan Parag. We have been backing him and he came in and showed the world how explosive he can be. We were 10-15 runs short with no dew and the wicket turning a bit. We were waiting for the back end of the batting order to go out and win matches. Almost everyone has put up a match-winning performance until now. The chat before the second innings was that in a total like this and conditions like this, it is tough for batters to change gears. It was a matter of putting in pressure. We do make a couple of changes here and there based on the opponents and conditions. But it is important to give clarity to people who are being dropped. Credit to Karun to accept and understand that we needed Mitchell's one over today and he can come in later.

11:23pm It was a game set up beautifully by Riyan Parag's knock, wasn't it? Walking in at 4/68 before the halfway stage, he was under pressure due to the situation as well as due to the lack of runs on his part. But how well did he first steady the ship, keep Rajasthan Royals on course, before opening up his arms to help them get to a total they could have hoped to defend.

From thereon, the momentum was with the side in pink as they executed their bowling plans to the T. The hard lengths were the problem child for batters, and they dished out just that to the Royal Challengers Bangalore batters, who were already under pressure due to lack of regular contributions. You have to give an extra bit to that planning around Glenn Maxwell's dismissal, pushing him back just with the field placements and snaring him early. Superb stuff, much-deserved win for the Royals.

Saurabh Mantri : "First place is see-saw between RR and GT. If Hyderabad wins tomorrow then they will be on top of the table."

Syed: "Shane Warne would've been a happy man this season"

Kuldeep Sen: (On pressure) After my second game, I missed a couple of games as I suffered a side strain at the nets during practice. Watching Hazlewood and Siraj, I realised that the ball was stopping a bit. So the plan was to bowl hard lengths. The talks were about hitting the right lengths and preventing run-flow, since we had seen that in the first innings.

Ronald Dunai: "The reason why RR is top of the table. A different player steps up in each match to win the game for them when the others fail. A few matches ago it was Hetmyer, then Chahal, last match it was Butler, today it's Parag. "

RCB captain Faf du Plessis: It's pretty similar to the previous game. If you hit the deck hard in the first few overs, it is hard to get away. The dropped chance cost us. The top order is a trick we need to fix. You need someone in the top four to bat through and we haven't done that consistently. We tried changing the batting lineup today and we feel that they can try playing positively. Can't go into a shell. (On Kohli) Great players go through phases like this and we wanted to get him in the game straightaway so that he doesn't sit in the sidelines and think about the game. It's a game of confidence.

Sandeep Sahu: "Chahal goes wicketless for the first time in this season. But how good were RR bowling unit as a whole!"

11:15pm Celebrations in the Royals' dugout after the 29-run win and why not! It has been a clinical bowling performance to register their sixth win out of eight and go atop. The introspection for the Royal Challengers will go on for long, you'd imagine. That ends Rajasthan's five-game losing streak against Bengaluru.

19.3
W
Sen to Patel, OUT, Fourth catch for Parag as Royal Challengers fold for 115. Length ball on the stumps, Harshal holes out to long-on, who didn't have to move an inch.

HV Patel c Parag b Sen 8 (21m 11b 0x4 1x6) SR: 72.72

19.2
0
Sen to Patel, no run, Back of a length around middle, steered to third man.

Shrey: "Parag scored 23 runs after being dropped by Hasaranga in the penultimate over. That drop has come to bite them back as the difference of defeat is so close to the 23 runs."

19.1
0
Sen to Patel, no run, Length ball outside off, Harshal misses the pull.

Kuldeep for the final over. 3/20 so far.

END OF OVER:
19 | 8 Runs | RCB: 115/9 (30 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 6.05, RRR: 30.00)

  • Harshal Patel8 (8b)
  • Josh Hazlewood0 (2b)
  • Yuzvendra Chahal4-0-23-0
  • Prasidh Krishna4-0-23-2
18.6
1
Chahal to Patel, 1 run, Finally connects the slog, straight to deep midwicket for one.
18.5
0
Chahal to Patel, no run, Very full on the stumps, dug out to the off side.
18.4
0
Chahal to Patel, no run, Slower through the air, Harshal is through with his swing quite early. Toe ends it to long-on but denies the run.
18.3
0
Chahal to Patel, no run, Very full on leg, squeezed off the inner edge to the off side.
18.3
1w
Chahal to Patel, 1 wide, Flighted well outside off, Patel tries to reach to it but misses.
18.2
6
Chahal to Patel, SIX, That made good connection! Tossed up outside off, on a length. Patel stands tall and thumps it over deep midwicket. Both Chahal and Harshal play for Haryana, so there is the familiarity.
18.1
0
Chahal to Patel, no run, Floated full on leg, misses the heave over midwicket.

Chahal's last

END OF OVER:
18 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | RCB: 107/9 (38 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 5.94, RRR: 19.00)

  • Josh Hazlewood0 (2b)
  • Harshal Patel1 (2b)
  • Prasidh Krishna4-0-23-2
  • Kuldeep Sen3-0-20-3
17.6
0
Prasidh Krishna to Hazlewood, no run, Banged in short, Hazlewood sways and misses the ramp.
17.5
0
Prasidh Krishna to Hazlewood, no run, Full toss outside off, hit to covers.

Prasidh around the stumps to Hazlewood.

"I suppose RCB batting has at least improved from their last outing. Not saying a lot, though. " You are being cheeky, James.

17.4
W
Prasidh Krishna to Mohammed Siraj, OUT, Aims Navi Mumbai goes Nagpur! Full ball, Siraj looks to smash it over mid-off. Gets it off the thick outer half and the ball carries to Kuldeep at third man.

Mohammed Siraj c Sen b Prasidh Krishna 5 (6m 5b 1x4 0x6) SR: 100.00

17.3
0
Prasidh Krishna to Mohammed Siraj, no run, Siraj is cramped for room for the pull and misses pulling the bouncer.
17.2
4
Prasidh Krishna to Mohammed Siraj, FOUR, Full and outside off, Siraj throws his bat at it to slice it over point for four.
17.1
0
Prasidh Krishna to Mohammed Siraj, no run, Length ball, Siraj misses getting it away.

Prasidh.

Neelesh: "Did not see anyone so cool and calm while taking a catch.. Riyan Prayag has such soft hands and keeps his body so steady... a masterclass for any fielder.."

END OF OVER:
17 | 9 Runs 1 Wkt | RCB: 103/8 (42 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.05, RRR: 14.00)

  • Harshal Patel1 (2b)
  • Mohammed Siraj1 (1b)
  • Kuldeep Sen3-0-20-3
  • Ravichandran Ashwin4-0-17-3
16.6
0
Sen to Patel, no run, Short and outside off, Patel has a swish and a miss.
16.5
1
Sen to Mohammed Siraj, 1 run, Full on the pads, worked through square leg for one.

Mo Siraj!

16.4
W
Sen to PW Hasaranga, OUT, The bouncer gets too hot for Hasaranga. The heat in Pune is already high and Kuldeep is increasing it with his incessant short-bowling. Hasaranga looks to heave this but ends up skying it, hurried by the extra pace. Sen settles under it at where non-striker would have been and takes it comfortably.

PW Hasaranga c & b Sen 18 (24m 13b 2x4 0x6) SR: 138.46

Ashwin is off the field and in the dugout.

16.3
2
Sen to PW Hasaranga, 2 runs, Short this time outside off, Hasaranga looks to punch it off the back foot but gets it off the outer half. Boult has to run to his left this time and cannot prevent the double.

Samson goes to the bowler to have a quiet word

16.2
2
Sen to PW Hasaranga, 2 runs, Superb work by the sweeper running to his right. Trent Boult is the man! Hasaranga flayed the length ball through covers and it looked to have been timed well. Boult saves two.
16.1
4
Sen to PW Hasaranga, FOUR, Not the line to be bowled that. On the pads at a decent height. Hasaranga swivels and collects a one-bounce four to fine leg.

Here's Kuldeep Sen into his third. 51 needed off 24, win predictor firmly in Royals' favour. CSK needed 47 off the last four overs yesterday.

END OF OVER:
16 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | RCB: 94/7 (51 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 5.87, RRR: 12.75)

  • Wanindu Hasaranga10 (9b)
  • Harshal Patel1 (1b)
  • Ravichandran Ashwin4-0-17-3
  • Yuzvendra Chahal3-0-15-0

Mustafa Moudi: "GT's 168, LSG's 156 and RR's 144 - Scores this week that looked easily chaseable, actually proved to be too much for the chasing sides. Its high time Captains opting to Bat First, like Hardik, before its too late !!"

15.6
1
Ashwin to PW Hasaranga, 1 run, Deceived in flight and yet gets away with it. Hasarange wanted to push it through covers but the flight meant that it went off the outer edge to the left of backward point for one. Ashwin finishes with 3/17 tonight.

RCB 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st10F du PlessisV Kohli
2nd27F du PlessisRM Patidar
3rd0GJ MaxwellRM Patidar
4th21RM PatidarShahbaz Ahmed
5th8SS PrabhudessaiShahbaz Ahmed
6th6KD KarthikShahbaz Ahmed
7th20PW HasarangaShahbaz Ahmed
8th10HV PatelPW Hasaranga
9th5HV PatelMohammed Siraj
10th8JR HazlewoodHV Patel

Indian Premier League

TeamMWLPTNRR
GT14104200.316
RR1495180.298
LSG1495180.251
RCB148616-0.253
DC1477140.204
PBKS1477140.126
KKR1468120.146
SRH146812-0.379
CSK144108-0.203
MI144108-0.506