Right then, another game in a blockbuster weekend of the 2025 IPL has come to an end and RCB have now climbed up to the 3rd spot in the points table with 8 points from 6 games. There's one more game to come before the weekend ends, and it is between the unbeaten Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians up in Delhi. DC have elected to bowl first in that game, and you can simply switch tabs and check our coverage of that one. Cheers!

Phil Salt is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his superb knock. He says that he is always pleased to contribute to the team’s win, especially, this venue was slightly different from where he plays in Bengaluru. Adds that he just tried to hit Jofra Archer into the off side earlier, but he realized that it is not that easy and changed his approach to play to the leg side more. Mentions that he has batted against Jofra a lot in the nets, and he knows how to play against him, and it was nice to score some boundaries against him. States that the wicket was on the slower side, and he took that opportunity to just kill the game in Powerplay. He says that Rajasthan played well, but their bowlers changed the momentum in their side back in the death overs, and he thinks that the score of 173 was good.

Rajat Patidar, the RCB captain, says that it was really amazing to see the bowlers execute their plans in the first innings. Adds that the way they bowled in the Powerplay was special, and they were targeting to keep the opposition somewhere between 150-170. Goes on to applaud the bowlers further, mentioning that the ability to execute on every surface is what gives him confidence. On Phil Salt, Rajat says that the way he was hitting the ball seemed really special. Ends by saying that he is happy to keep winning on the road but feels they are a team that doesn't keep the surface in mind much.

The Presentation ceremony...

Devdutt Padikkal of RCB is up for a quick chat. He says that he is trying to bat differently as he has batted the last two-three years and is trying to change his gameplay to play a bit aggressively. Adds that he has tried to be in the space where he can play technically well, and Dinesh Karthik and Andy have worked with him in that to help him. States that he enjoys playing for RCB, and he wants to perform just like that for them in the future as well. Mentions that it is just a coincidence as they have won just away games so far, and they have played good cricket even in home ones too, but they were a bit unlucky there where one or two overs changed the games. He hopes to win those games at home as well. 

Rajasthan Royals' skipper, Sanju Samson, is down for a chat. Samson says the first ten overs were a bit hard to bat in the first innings, and 170 was a fighting total. Adds that they knew Phil Salt and Virat Kohli would come hard in the Powerplay, and they took the game away from them. Mentions that catches win matches, but both teams dropped catches, and these things happen in cricket. Says that they wanted to take this till the 19th or 20th over, but RCB batted really well, and toss played a bit of a factor as well. Further adds that they are in a good state as a team and will try to come back stronger in the next set of games.

Earlier in the game, Rajat Patidar won the toss and opted to field first on a hot afternoon, but the decision was more because of the pitch, which seemed slow. It turned out to be a good decision as runs were hard to come by and RCB managed to pick up an early wicket as well. However, Yashasvi Jaiswal got set and was able to go after the bowlers, and RR started to fight back in the middle overs. RCB did stem the flow of runs with a couple of wickets, but Dhruv Jurel played a handy knock at the death to take the Royals over the 170-run mark.

Rajasthan Royals must have thought that they were in the game heading into the innings break, but soon enough, they were put on the back foot. Jofra Archer bowled a good first over but still went for a couple of boundaries, and from then on, there was no coming back as the opposition batters kept finding the fence. Just like the first innings, there were multiple dropped catches and decisive ones as well. The Impact sub, Kumar Kartikeya, was the only bowler who showed any promise and picked up a wicket, but eventually, RR were well beaten.

173 isn't the biggest score to chase down, given how the T20 game has evolved, but the pitch was on the slower side, and one needed to make full use of the new, hard ball. That is exactly what the RCB openers did. Phil Salt, in particular, was impressive as he took on the bowlers and hit plenty of boundaries inside the Powerplay, which yielded 65 runs. Salt got to his half-century but fell on 65, after which Virat Kohli took the reins and picked up the pace. Devdutt Padikkal, at the other end, went straight into 5th gear and made sure the bowlers weren't allowed a way back in. Kohli went on to notch up a 100th T20 half-century, just the 2nd male batter to do so after David Warner, as RCB cruised through to the win.

RCB STAY UNBEATEN ON THE ROAD! What a dominant display from the Royal Challengers to bring up a fourth straight away win of the season, and the blemishes of the Chinaswamy have yet again been washed away. This is the first time that RCB have won their first four away games of the season in IPL history. As for Rajasthan Royals, they slump to a 4th defeat in 6 games and will be itching to bounce back.