Royal Challengers Bangalore ticked all the boxes, including captain Virat Kohli getting back among runs, as they thrashed Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets in the afternoon match on Saturday.

Kohli roared back to form with an unbeaten 72 and stitched a 99-run stand with Devdutt Padikkal (63) to help Royal Challengers record their third victory of the tournament. This was after wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, named Man of the Match, snared three wickets in an impressive bowling show that helped them restrict Royals to 154/6.

Kohli’s knock came off 53 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

Padikkal yet again produced an impressive innings before he was dismissed by Jofra Archer in the 16th over, after hitting six fours and one six. The young opener allowed his captain to get in and settle down before Kohli produced some of his trademark shots.

The Royal Challengers needed 31 runs after Padikkal’s dismissal and another in-form batman, AB de Villiers (12 not out), ensured that his side reached the target with five balls to spare.

Earlier, Chahal returned figures of 3/24 from his four overs. Chahal now has eight wickets in IPL 2020, the same number as Kings XI Punjab’s Mohammed Shami.

Opting to bat, the Royals lost their top-order batsmen cheaply inside the Powerplay overs but recovered to some extent to post a decent total, thanks to Mahipal Lomror’s knock of 47.

Royals’ skipper Steve Smith (5) fell cheaply for the second consecutive time with Isuru Udana taking his wicket. He was followed by Jos Buttler (22) who failed to come up with a big score yet again.

The Royals were 31/3 and they reached 70/3 at the halfway mark with Robin Uthappa (17) and Lomror putting on 39 for the fourth wicket. But Uthappa failed yet again.

Rahul Tewatia (24 not out) hit two sixes in the last over after enduring a beamer from Navdeep Saini on his chest.