Virender Sehwag lauded the Rajasthan Royals’ side after Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel’s blitzkrieg with the bat orchestrated a stunning run chase for the inaugural champions against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Friday, April 10.
After a massive rain delay, the Royal Challengers posted 201/8 in their 20 overs, with skipper Rajat Patidar top-scoring with a 40-ball 63. While the total looked decent, the destructive duo of Suryavanshi and Jurel made it look quite modest with a surreal display of ball-striking.
They amassed a 108-run partnership off just 37 balls after Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed in the second over. Suryavanshi was eventually dismissed for 78 off 26 balls before Rajasthan lost two quick wickets of Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag. However, the experienced Ravindra Jadeja joined forces with Jurel and took the team home with two overs to spare. The former scored 24* (25), while the latter remained unbeaten on 81 (43).
Former India opener Virender Sehwag said that at the halfway mark, he felt that Bengaluru were short by a few runs, especially with the way Rajasthan go about their batting. The Nawab of Najafgarh added that even 220 would not have been enough for the Royal Challengers as the hosts chased down 202 in just 18 overs.
“When they scored 200, I felt that it was less, because the way Rajasthan is playing, and the kind of pitch, and the start RCB got. Had it been 220, even then Rajasthan would have chased it down because they chased 200 with two overs to spare,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Sehwag went on to add that no expert had kept the Royals in their predicted top four for the ongoing season. However, with four wins from as many games, the Royals are sitting pretty in pole position in the standings.
“None of the experts had kept RR in their top four, and now they are at the top of the table. When both your batting and bowling works, and it all clicks, it becomes harder to defeat you,” he added.
If Suryavanshi and Jurel had kept on, they would finish the chase in 12-13 overs: Sehwag
Sehwag stated that had Suryavanshi and Jurel’s partnership not been broken by Krunal Pandya in the ninth over, the match would have been over much sooner than it did.
We will criticise him: Sehwag on Suryavanshi after RR vs RCB
“At one point, it seemed that if Suryavanshi and Jurel had kept on, they would finish the chase in 12-13 overs. If Suryavanshi was there, he might have done it as well. All of these singles and doubles is not in his dictionary. So that partnership broke RCB’s back,” Sehwag added.
