RCB scored a challenging target of 205, a score that, even if on a track, would always be a tough chase in IPL 2025 Match 42 on April 24 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. In the end, it was Rajasthan Royals (RR) who lost to RCB by 11 runs, finishing up at 194/9 in 20 overs with a valiant effort.

RR struggled with their chase after losing their premier batsman early in the innings, which left them in a precarious position, making recovery even more difficult. RCB's bowling attack, led by Josh Hazlewood with a match-winning spell of 4/33, dismantled RR's top order and bottom order at the most opportune moments. RCB's batsmen, led by Virat Kohli's sensational 70 off 42 balls and supported by Devdutt Padikkal's 50 off 27 balls, bludgeoned the scoreboard to build the amazing score. RR struggled out of the blocks during the chase, and Hazlewood's aggressive spells, with support from Krunal Pandya (2/31) and Yash Dayal (1/33), were enough to stop RR from making a comeback to line RCB's win up in this brilliant game.

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1. Inconsistent Middle-Order Performance

The Rajasthan Royals started strong courtesy of Yashasvi Jaiswal's blistering 49 runs off 19 balls, followed by Dhruv Jurel's methodical 47 off 34. After Jurel's dismissal, the middle order's collapse marked a major turning point in the game. After Jurel, no other batter went on to make 30 runs, and there were vital partnerships that simply were missing in the middle overs. The halting of momentum ultimately came back to haunt RR as the required run rate kept edging up. The lower-order batters then had too much to do in the death overs to achieve the 205-run target and fell short by 11 runs.

2. Josh Hazlewood's Match-Winning Spell

Josh Hazlewood (RCB) created magic with his performance as a pacer with 4 wickets for 33 runs in 4 overs. His disciplined line and length, and especially hard lengths, successfully dismantled the batting core of the Rajasthan Royals. He made key breaks at critical times to the developing partnerships of RR, breaking partnerships with set batters. Hazlewood was effective in taking wickets at the top and lower-order wickets so that RR could not build any momentum, which caused the game to be handed over directly to RCB.

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3. Lack of Bowling Containment Early On

The Royals' bowling unit did not put the Royals under pressure early in the game. Virat Kohli's classy 70 (42) and Devdutt Padikkal's quickfire 50 (27) laid the foundations of a solid platform for the RCB. Sandeep Sharma and Jofra Archer were both expensive in the powerplay and kept giving bang-bang boundaries. The Royals couldn't stem the flow of runs up front, and as a result, this allowed RCB to post a formidable total of 205—a total that was always going to be difficult to chase on the Chinnaswamy pitch.