With New Zealand speedster Trent Boult making Royal Challengers Bengaluru batters dance to his tunes in the first five overs after RR opting to bowl, Ashwin made sure they did not break free in the later stages of the game. He bowled a tight spell to return with impressive figures of 2/19 from his quota of four overs. His two scalps included destructive Australian batters – Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell.
It was his carrom ball that fetched him the first wicket. Looking for a big shot, Green skied it up as Rovman Powell ran back from cover to pouch the ball high above his head. Ashwin struck again the very next ball as he sent Maxwell back. Facing the first ball, the batter went down the ground only to find Dhruv Jurel at long on. Had Jurel not dropped Rajat Patidar before in the match, Ashwin could have had his best figures this season so far. That dropped catch proved costly as Patidar (34 off 22) along with Mahipal Lomror (17-ball 32) played useful knocks to help their team post 172/8 in 20 overs.
Rajasthan pacer Avesh Khan might have walked away with three wickets in the end but first it was Boult and later Ashwin who dried up runs for the Bengaluru franchise with their openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis struggling to get going. Earlier, Boult claimed the wicket of RCB captain while leggie Yuzvendra Chahal had the prized wicket of Kohli. Ashwin took over from thereon as he claimed two wickets of the consecutive deliveries to reduce RCB to 97/4 in 13th over.
“It’s been a tournament of two halves for me. First half, I was struggling after a long Test series. Had a few injuries. But last few games I’ve been enjoying my bowling. In fact I messaged Virat (Kohli) last night that let’s battle it out one more time on the big stage. Dew has come on nicely. There is a bit of dew today. From a bowler’s perspective I hope it doesn’t swell too much, but from the batting team chasing, it’s good for us,” Ashwin told the broadcasters during the innings break.
In reply, Rajasthan started well but lost a few quick wickets before Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer played a sensible knock each to take the team closer to the target. The duo departed thereafter but Ashwin joined Powell in the middle as Rajasthan won by four wickets with one over to spare. After playing a stellar role in the Royals’ win on Wednesday, Ashwin will have another opportunity to swell his wicket tally, this time on his home turf, against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 172/8 in 20 ovs (Patidar 34; Ashwin 2/19, Avesh 3/44) lost to Rajasthan Royals 174/6in 19 ovs (Jaiswal 45, Parag 36)
