Tuesday night’s IPL match between the Rajasthan Royals and the Royal Challengers Bangalore might not have produced too many runs; but to compensate for that, there was a great deal of drama and intensity outside the playing field.
For starters, Rajasthan’s young batter Riyan Parag managed to shut the mouths of the pundits and fans who are quick to question his position in the team. The 20-year-old Assam batter walked into the crease when his team was reeling at 68/4 and produced a fine innings of 56(31) that allowed RR to reach a competitive total.
Riyan Parag comes good with the bat
What was particularly refreshing to see about Parag’s performance in the match was that he analyzed the match situation well, and chose to go after the right bowlers at the right time. One such bowler was Harshal Patel, who- bowling the last over of the match- conceded 18 runs off Parag’s bat.
Clearly, Harshal wasn’t too pleased to be taken to the cleaners by Parag. Just before the mid-innings break, after having conceded 2 sixes and a four in the final over, Patel seemed to be giving Parag a strong send-off while making his way back into the dressing room. This prompted the latter to stop, turn back, and shoot back some animated words at the RCB pacer.
Harshal Patel, Riyan Parag involved in a heated exchange
The two were seen gesticulating fervently, and it was only when a player from the RR dugout arrived to calm down Harshal that the situation died down. Here’s the video of Parag and Patel’s heated exchange:
https://twitter.com/Biscuit8Chai/status/1518984698068111360?t=QuITuTU9nzJSDoph4hbhWw&s=19
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Match Summary
As it turned out, it was Parag who walked away with the last laugh and the MoTM award, as Rajasthan emerged victorious in the game by 29 runs. Ravichandran Ashwin (3/17) and Kuldeep Sen (4/20) struck at regular intervals to pull off a jailbreak and steer the men-in-pink home. Bangalore, meanwhile, succumbed to their second successive defeat.
Brief scores: Rajasthan 144/8 (Parag 56, Hazlewood 2/19) beat Bangalore 115 (du Plessis 23, Kuldeep Sen 4/20) by 29 runs.