Rajasthan Royals leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal bowled a sensational spell to dismiss key top-order batsmen before Parthiv Patel and Marcus Stoinis propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to 158 for four in an IPL match, here Tuesday.
Gopal claimed three wickets, including that of Virat Kohli (23) and AB de Villiers (13), conceding just 12 runs in his four-quota over.
It was opener Parthiv who resisted the Royals attack with aplomb, hitting a belligerent 67 off 41 balls with nine boundaries and six to help his side put a decent total on board.
Stoinis (31 not out) too played a key part in shoring up team's total, add 32 quick runs in partnership with Moeen Ali (18).
Playing with a cautious approach, Kohli was happy working the ball around. Parthiv was aggressor of the two. Parhtiv hit three boundaries in Jofra Archer's first over as RCB finished the Powerplay overs with 48 runs on the board.
Immediately after that, Gopal was introduced into the attack and he began to trouble the Indian captain with his googlies. Gopal deceived Kohli with one, which went through the gates.
The leg-spinner returned and this time got rid of de Villiers with another wrong one which stopped a bit as the South African hit it straight back to Gopal, who bowled a rare wicket-maiden.
Left-handed Shimron Hetmyer became his third victim when he edged one away-going delivery and Jos Buttler took a sharp catch behind the wicket.
Parthiv was still there but boundaries had dried up. The diminutive left-hander finally lofted one from Ben Stokes for a six over mid-wicket and followed it up with a crushing drive on the off side.
He completed his fifty with a single off Archer, who was smacked for a six by Stoinis soon after. The West Indian dismissed Patel later.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
