Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have maintained their unbeaten record away from home in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Hunting for their maiden trophy, the Rajat Patidar-led side has continued to take strides forward. Once again, it was Phil Salt and Virat Kohli’s opening partnership that played a major role in their victory over the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
RCB have convincingly beaten the Sanju Samson-led team at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium by 9 wickets and with 15 balls to spare. This was the best win of the IPL 2025 season, as they chased down 174 runs on a slow and low wicket in Jaipur. RCB have also moved to the third spot on the points table, behind just Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans.
Fourth win of the season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru — and all of them away from home
— InsideSport (@InsideSportIND) April 13, 2025#IPL2025 #RRvsRCB #ViratKohli #RoyalChallengersBengaluru #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/JGTJOrCnac
Lack of intent from RR
RR captain Samson didn’t give his team a good start, as he scored just 15 (19). And if not for Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 75 (47), they would have even struggled to get to 173. One must add that this was the second-lowest total posted by a team when losing four or fewer wickets since the impact player rule was introduced in the IPL 2023 season.
Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel did their best on the pitch that wasn’t aiding the batters much. But as Samson mentioned after the match, RR’s intent wasn’t great. “We knew they would come hard at us and I think they won the game in the powerplay,” Samson said. And he takes quite a bit of blame for his sluggish knock and inability to utilise the powerplay.
Salt’s assault & Kohli’s calculations
As for RCB, Salt and Kohli basically won the game for them. The Englishman raced off the blocks and never really stopped until he was dismissed by Kumar Kartikeya. And even that ball should have sailed over the boundary. His 65 (33) on a pitch like that basically got RCB the win.
Knowing what Salt was doing, Kohli took a back seat. He was 24 (22) when his opening partner departed. In the next 23 balls, Kohli scored 38 runs. This gave Devdutt Paddikal enough time to settle down. The southpaw hasn’t scored much and exploded after taking those initial overs to get his eye in.
A scintillating match winning knock from Virat Kohli
— InsideSport (@InsideSportIND) April 13, 2025#ViratKohli #RRvRCB #IPL2025 #Insidesport #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/JnI2qzbCbd
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