Joe Root makes 10 on debut innings in the IPL as Rajasthan Royals thumped by Royal Challengers Bangalore; Jos Buttler dismissed for a duck as Royals rolled for 59 in 10.3 overs; Root will return to England later this month ahead of Test summer, which includes Ashes from June 16
Sunday 14 May 2023 21:26, UK
Joe Root was out lbw for 10 during his first innings in the IPL and Jos Buttler fell for a duck as Rajasthan Royals were razed for 59 by Royal Challengers Bangalore during a crushing 112-run defeat.
England star Root had been selected for Royals' previous two matches but was not required to bat, with Buttler hitting 95 in a total of 214-2 against Sunrisers Hyderabad before Rajasthan thumped Kolkata Knight Riders by nine wickets despite Buttler being run out without scoring.
Buttler bagged back-to-back noughts after chipping RCB seamer Wayne Parnell to cover-point on Sunday with Root then entering at 6-2 in an innings in which Rajasthan tumbled to 7-3 and 31-6 before being dismissed in 10.3 overs as they flopped trying to overhaul their opponents' 171-5 in Jaipur.
Root successfully overturned an lbw dismissal on one before ramping a boundary over short fine leg next ball, but his knock was ended on the 15th delivery, trapped leg before by Parnell's dipping slower ball.
He was still Royals' second top-scorer, behind Shimron Hetmyer (35 off 19), with that pair the only players to reach double figures during a dismal reply.
Root is coming towards the end of his maiden IPL stint and will return home later this month ahead of England's Test summer.
That begins with a four-day match against Ireland at Lord's from June 1 before the Ashes series gets under way at Edgbaston on June 16.
Elsewhere in the IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders rode on the back of half-centuries from captain Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh to beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets on Sunday.
Rana, dropped on 18, went on to score an unbeaten 57 off 44 balls and Singh (54) smashed his third half-century of the season before getting run out as Kolkata strolled to their target of 145 with nine balls to spare.
Chennai were restricted to 144-6 on a slow surface with spinners Sunil Narine (2-15) and Varun Chakravarthy (2-36) doing most of the damage after captain MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first. England all-rounder Moeen Ali was dismissed for one.
In reply, Deepak Chahar (3-27) continued his sublime form with the new ball for Chennai and picked up three wickets in the powerplay as Kolkata were reduced to 33-3 in the fifth over.
England opener Jason Roy (12) and Venkatesh Iyer (9) both got caught at short third man while going after Chahar, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (1) was brilliantly caught by Tushar Deshpande at deep point.
Rana and Singh then combined in a 99-run stand - the biggest fourth-wicket stand against Chennai in the IPL at home - as the game swung in Kolkata's favour.
Chennai stay second, and in a strong position to make the playoffs, despite the defeat, with the top four advancing. Kolkata, seventh after the win, need to beat Lucknow Super Giants in their last league match and hope other results go in their favour.
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