The Faf-Maxwell Show

On a sunny afternoon at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, the home fans may have been disappointed to see Virat Kohli fall for a first ball duck, but they did walk away with smiles.

• SCORECARD

With Faf du Plessis once again coming in as Impact Player, the Challengers were led by their former captain. Though Kohli fell for a golden duck, he was at his animated best as he led his side to a 7 run win over the Rajasthan Royals.

The last time Challengers played at home they lost a high-scoring affair against the Chennai Super Kings.

But Sunday's day game, panned out differently, with the score remaining under 200 and the home side walking away with a win.

Donning green jerseys in support of RCB's green initiative, the Challengers got their innings off to a rocky start after being invited to bat first.

As eerie silence descended on the stadium with Trent Boult removing Kohli on the very first ball of the match.

Not only did the Royals get off to a perfect start, but it was the first time that Boult had picked up Kohli. And his prized scalp took his wicket count in the IPL to 100.

The Kiwi fast bowler became only the sixth overseas bowler to pocket 100 wickets in the IPL.

But Boult wasn't done just yet. The Kiwi struck on the very first ball of his second over as well to remove Shahbaz Ahmed. Challengers 12/2 in 2.1 overs.

Tough to recover? With the in form Faf at the crease and the hard-hitting Maxi walking in at No 4, the job was far from done.

The pair put up another century stand as they took the Royals bowlers to the cleaners. The South African and the Australian scored in tandem as they romped to 62/2 in the Powerplay.

Du Plessis and Maxwell, who had lit up the Bengaluru skyline just days ago, again turned RCB's innings around as they added 127 off 66 for the third wicket partnership.

A stellar direct hit from Yashasvi Jaiswal saw Faf depart for 62 off 39. Maxwell followed Faf to the dugout following his highest score (77) at the Chinnaswamy.

Following these dismissals, Royals fought back to hold RCB to under 200. But the partnership was enough for the hosts as the RCB bowlers held onto their nerves to eke out a narrow win.

• IPL 2023