IPL 2019: Steve Smith’s Rajasthan Royals beat Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore
Facing off for the first time in nearly two years, Steve Smith came out on top in his running battle with Virat Kohli as Rajasthan trumped Bangalore in the IPL.
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Steve Smith has helped Rajasthan Royals to their first win of the IPL season as his side beat Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets.
In their first meeting in a year and a half, the Australian finished on the winning side and outscored his Indian rival, who made a pedestrian 23 off 25 opening the batting.
Smith scored a steady 38 from 31 balls but was unable to see his side over the line after being dismissed in the penultimate over when he was caught at long on by Umesh Yadav trying to hit Mohammed Siraj for the six runs needed to win the game.
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Rahul Tripathi sealed the victory by clearing the rope with a ball to spare after England’s Jos Buttler had laid the foundations with an impressive 59 that included eight fours and a six from 43 deliveries.
Shreyas Gopal was the hero with the ball for Rajasthan, taking 3-12 from his four overs, including the vital wickets of Kohli (23) and AB de Villiers (13).
A fighting 67 from the experienced Parthiv Patel helped Bangalore to a competitive total but it looked at least 15 runs short of a winning score.
Originally published as IPL 2019: Steve Smith’s Rajasthan Royals beat Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore
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