IPL2025 : Salt assault sinks Rajasthan Royals as RCB cruise to 8 wkt win

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore continued their impressive run in away games during IPL 2025, securing yet another victory on the road. In their sixth match of the season, the Rajat Patidar-led side crushed Rajasthan Royals by 9 wickets at their home ground in Jaipur. Once again, RCB’s bowlers delivered a solid performance away from home, restricting Rajasthan to a modest 173 despite the batting-friendly conditions. Chasing the target, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli stitched a dominant partnership, guiding Bangalore to a comfortable win in the 18th over. This marked RCB’s fourth win of the season—all of which have come in away fixtures.

This was the first IPL 2025 match held at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, three weeks after the season began. Prior to this, Rajasthan had played two of their designated home matches in Guwahati. Returning to their actual home ground, the Royals were expected to put up a strong show, but both their batting and fielding fell short. The team dropped a total of five catches, which Salt and Kohli took full advantage of. Interestingly, Bangalore too had their lapses in the field earlier, dropping three catches and giving Rajasthan a brief advantage.

Only Jaiswal Stands Tall

Batting first, Rajasthan Royals managed to post 173 runs. The innings got off to a sluggish start, with skipper Sanju Samson struggling to find rhythm. On the other hand, Yashasvi Jaiswal maintained a steady scoring rate. After Samson’s dismissal, Riyan Parag chipped in with a handy 30, but overall, the Royals’ batters found it difficult to break free. Jaiswal’s knock of 75 was the highlight of the innings and marked his second half-century of the season. In the end, Dhruv Jurel added some late fireworks with an unbeaten 35 to give the innings a finishing touch. For Bangalore, Krunal Pandya was the most effective bowler, returning figures of 1 for 29.

Sanju Samson’s pre-match concerns at the toss turned out to be prophetic. He had warned that batting would be easier in the second innings—and that’s exactly how things panned out. Phil Salt and Virat Kohli gave RCB a flying start that effectively decided the outcome early. Salt, in particular, targeted the boundaries aggressively and made the most of his chances after being dropped three times. He raced to his second half-century of the season in just 28 balls before getting out for 65 off 33 deliveries in the 9th over, with the score already at 92.

After Salt’s dismissal, Kohli accelerated and notched up his third half-century of the season and the 100th of his T20 career. He remained unbeaten on 62, while Devdutt Padikkal supported him with an unbeaten 40. Together, they added 83 runs to finish the chase comfortably and hand Bangalore a commanding win.