It happened against the Delhi Capitals. It was repeated against the Lucknow Super Giants. It struck again against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The Rajasthan Royals botched their run chase for three matches in a row. From a commanding position in the chase, they somehow managed to find the self-destruct button and pressed it repeatedly. The result? a hat-trick of defeats in IPL 2025. In the aftermath of yet another inexplicable runchase, former cricketers Simon Katich and Pommie Mbangwa criticised the RR batting unit.
Former Australia batter Simon Katich said RR butchered the chase when Shubham Dubey, the last recognised batter, was dismissed on the first ball of the 20th over with RR needing 17 runs to win. “RR is butchering the chase,” said Katich on commentary.
Former Zimbabwe cricketer Mbangwa, who was in the commentary box with Katich, said nobody would believe that light can strike, but it did for RR, and the reasons for the defeat can only be explained by them.
“Lightning strikes thrice. They were on their way to victory but somehow ended up losing. They can only explain it to themselves. They couldn’t exorcise the ghosts of the last two games,” Mbangwa said.
The defeat meant RR are out of the reckoning for a place in play-offs berth in the ongoing edition of the league. They have lost seven matches out of nine.
How Hazlewood triggered RR collapse in 19th over
Coming on to bowl with RR needing 18 off 12 deliveries, Hazlewood (4/33) picked up two wickets in as many balls while giving away just one run, as the visitors were stopped at 194 for nine in a chase of 206 at a packed Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Hazlewood’s heroics meant Yashasvi Jaiswal’s (49 off 19 balls) blazing knock at the top of the order and Dhruv Jurel’s (47 off 34 balls) valiant effort went in vain as RR suffered their fifth defeat on the trot.
This was after RCB star batter Virat Kohli (70 off 42 balls) and Devdutt Padikkal (50 off 27 balls) controlled the middle overs with a partnership of 95 for the second wicket.
Set a target of 206, RR’s start was brutal with Jaiswal and 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi amassing 52 runs in 27 balls before a Bhuvneshwar Kumar knuckle ball bowled the latter after the teenager went for one too many, having hit two sixes in his 16-run knock.
Jaiswal continued the good work after Suryavanshi, smashing Hazlewood for two fours and a six but the Australian struck back in the last ball of the same over to sent back Jaiswal for 49.
Despite the two wickets, RR were well placed to chase down the target thanks to cameos by captain Riyan Parag (22 off 10) and Dhruv Jurel (47 off 34) but Rajasthan failed to score 18 off 12 balls with five wickets in hand just like they had failed to get 9 off he last over against LSG.
