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Bengaluru: Smith's 21-ball 48 and Faulkner's 17-ball 41 in trying conditions helped Rajasthan Royals chased down 191 with 7 balls and 5 wickets to spare at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Sunday.
The pari added seemed-improbable 85 runs off just 33 deliveries.
In one of the best T20 finishes ever seen, Steve Smith and James Faulkner pulled of an improbable win for the Rajasthan Royals in Bengaluru. The pair came together at a point when the target was still 85 runs away and they had only 39 balls to achieve it. What ensued was a blitzkrieg of fours and sixes, with which both the RR batters forced RCB into submission.
Thanks to their miraculous efforts, RR reached the 191-run target by a five-wicket margin with seven balls to spare. The duo negated Yuvraj Singh’s brilliant all-round performance, which saw him score a 38-ball 83 and pick up four crucial wickets.
Earlier, Virat Kohli (4) elected to bat first upon winning the toss, and even opened the innings with Chris Gayle. However, the move up the batting order did not work for the RCB skipper as Kane Richardson dismissed him in the third over.
Vijay Zol came in at No.3 for the home team. He added 32 for the second wicket with Gayle (19), until the West Indian opener got stumped off the bowling of Pravin Tambe in the eighth over. Rahul Tewatia then got rid of Zol (16) with the RCB score on 40 for three in 8.1 overs.
That is when AB de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh came together and changed the complexion of the innings. The experienced batsmen, who are both known for their massive strikes, lived up to their reputation. Striking a total of 12 sixes – five by de Villiers and seven by Yuvraj Singh – they deflated the morale of the opposition bowlers.
During their 65-ball liaison, they added 132 runs and propelled the RCB score past the 170-run mark. In the process, Yuvraj Singh (83) even raced to a quick-fire half century. Finally, the southpaw was trapped leg-before by Kane Richardson in the 19th over to give RR a much-needed breather.
de Villiers (58), however, continued to plunder some quick runs and brought up his half-century as well. He was eventually dismissed by James Faulkner in the final over of the innings. Thanks to the Yuvi-AB show, the home team ended up scoring a mammoth 190 for five in their 20 overs.
In response, Ajinkya Rahane and Karun Nair gave RR a good start. They added 54 runs, before Rahane (24) got out off the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal. Yuraj Singh’s magical night continued when he rolled his arm and bowled Shane Watson (1) out cheaply. Even Stuart Binny’s (1) stay in the middle was brief, and Yuvraj Singh was responsible for his wicket as well. The RCB all-rounder then caught Sanju Samson (13) off his own bowling. And finally, Yuvraj Singh capped off a brilliant night by bowling Nair (56) out, after he had scored a half-century.
And while Yuvraj Singh’s exploits reduced RR to 106 for five in 13.3 overs, his efforts did not result in a win for RCB. What transpired over the next 5.2 overs was nothing short of a miracle. Steve Smith (48*), along with James Faulkner (41*), scripted a comeback for the ages to pull RR out of the depths and into the driver’s seat. The Australian duo struck a flurry of fours and sixes during their unbroken 85-run stand that saw their team home.
From the persistent celebratory cheer that permeated the crowd, a stunned silence gripped the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as the duo went after any bowler who came in their way. RR eventually reached the target off the second-last ball of the 19th over when Faulkner struck a six off Varun Aaron.
Earlier, RCB have won the toss and have opted to batl in game 35 of IPL 7.
RCB have 2 changes with Vijay Zol and Ashok Dinda coming in for Sachin Rana and Harshal Patel, while RR have one change with Tewatia coming in for Kulkarni.
Teams:
Rajasthan: Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Sanju Samson (wk), Shane Watson (Capt.), Stuart Binny, Steven Smith, Rajat Bhatia, James Faulkner, Kane Richardson, Pravin Tambe, Rahul Tewatia
Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli (Capt.), Vijay Zol, AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Varun Aaron, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashok Dinda
Brief scores
Bangalore Royal Challengers - 190/5 (Yuvraj 83, de Villiers 58, Richardson 2-43)
Rajasthan Royals - 191/5 (Nair 56, Smith 48*, Faulkner 41*, Yuvraj 4-35)
Result - Rajasthan Royals won by 5 wickets
Points - Rajasthan Royals 2, Bangalore Royal Challengers 0
