Bangalore - A stunning 17-ball 41 from James Faulkner catapulted the Rajasthan Royals to a remarkable five-wicket win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday, the supersport.com website reports.
The all-rounder cracked three sixes and three fours to help his side chase down a tough 191-victory target with seven balls to spare, sharing in an unbroken 85-run stand with fellow Australian Steve Smith (48 off 21).
Karun Nair had set up the start of the chase with 56 off 39 after Yuvraj Singh (83 from 38) and AB de Villiers (58 off 32) had bolstered the home side to 190 for five with their 132-run partnership.
India star Yuvraj also claimed the remarkable figures of four for 35, but still ended on the losing side.
Bangalore had made a troubled start after winning the toss and batting when they reached 40 for three in the ninth over as Virat Kohli (four), Chris Gayle (19) and Vijay Zol (16) struggled to find any rhythm and were taken out by Kane Richardson, Pravin Tambe and Rahul Tewatia respectively.
However, De Villiers and Yuvraj scored at a rate of 12.18 during their 10.5 overs together.
It was only 57 for three at the halfway stage, before the 100 was raised with a little over five overs to go.
Yuvraj, whose innings included seven sixes and seven fours and was one of the stand-out performances of the season to date, went to his half century in only 24 balls.
He then really tucked into Richardson, the pick of the bowlers with two for 43, during a 21-run 19th over, when he was eventually out leg before wicket.
De Villiers, who watched in awe as one of his sixes struck the roof of the stands as it missiled over cow corner, struck two more maximums in the final over to get to his own 50 in 30 balls.
He eventually fell to Faulkner after plunging five sixes, but the hosts still managed to post their highest total of the season.
Rajasthan made a good start to the response with Ajinkya Rahane (24) and Nair putting on 54 for the first wicket in a little under seven overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal finally inflicted a breakthrough at the start of the eighth over - Rahane edging to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel - as three wickets fell in 12 balls.
Slow left-armer Yuvraj took out Shane Watson (one) bowled and Stuart Binny (one), caught by Rilee Rossouw at deep cover, with the third and sixth balls of his next over as the tide of the game changed.
The man-of-the-moment then had Sanju Samson caught and bowled for 13 in his next over, although Nair kept things ticking over at the other end by reaching a second IPL 50 in 34 balls.
However, he was then bowled by Yuvraj leaving 85 still to get from just 39 balls.
Enter Faulkner and the Australian took charge of the chase from there, and even though there were still 65 needed from the last 24 balls, the Royals only needed 17 of those to claim a sensational win.
The last three overs went 21-23-21 and the Smith-Faulkner came at an astounding run rate at 15.93 per over.
Teams:
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: CH Gayle, PA Patel (wk), V Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, VH Zol, JA Morkel, MA Starc, VR Aaron, YS Chahal, AB Dinda
RAJASTHAN ROYALS: AM Rahane, KK Nair, SV Samson (wk), SR Watson (capt), STR Binny, SPD Smith, R Bhatia, JP Faulkner, KW Richardson, PV Tambe, R Tewatia
The all-rounder cracked three sixes and three fours to help his side chase down a tough 191-victory target with seven balls to spare, sharing in an unbroken 85-run stand with fellow Australian Steve Smith (48 off 21).
Karun Nair had set up the start of the chase with 56 off 39 after Yuvraj Singh (83 from 38) and AB de Villiers (58 off 32) had bolstered the home side to 190 for five with their 132-run partnership.
India star Yuvraj also claimed the remarkable figures of four for 35, but still ended on the losing side.
Bangalore had made a troubled start after winning the toss and batting when they reached 40 for three in the ninth over as Virat Kohli (four), Chris Gayle (19) and Vijay Zol (16) struggled to find any rhythm and were taken out by Kane Richardson, Pravin Tambe and Rahul Tewatia respectively.
However, De Villiers and Yuvraj scored at a rate of 12.18 during their 10.5 overs together.
It was only 57 for three at the halfway stage, before the 100 was raised with a little over five overs to go.
Yuvraj, whose innings included seven sixes and seven fours and was one of the stand-out performances of the season to date, went to his half century in only 24 balls.
He then really tucked into Richardson, the pick of the bowlers with two for 43, during a 21-run 19th over, when he was eventually out leg before wicket.
De Villiers, who watched in awe as one of his sixes struck the roof of the stands as it missiled over cow corner, struck two more maximums in the final over to get to his own 50 in 30 balls.
He eventually fell to Faulkner after plunging five sixes, but the hosts still managed to post their highest total of the season.
Rajasthan made a good start to the response with Ajinkya Rahane (24) and Nair putting on 54 for the first wicket in a little under seven overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal finally inflicted a breakthrough at the start of the eighth over - Rahane edging to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel - as three wickets fell in 12 balls.
Slow left-armer Yuvraj took out Shane Watson (one) bowled and Stuart Binny (one), caught by Rilee Rossouw at deep cover, with the third and sixth balls of his next over as the tide of the game changed.
The man-of-the-moment then had Sanju Samson caught and bowled for 13 in his next over, although Nair kept things ticking over at the other end by reaching a second IPL 50 in 34 balls.
However, he was then bowled by Yuvraj leaving 85 still to get from just 39 balls.
Enter Faulkner and the Australian took charge of the chase from there, and even though there were still 65 needed from the last 24 balls, the Royals only needed 17 of those to claim a sensational win.
The last three overs went 21-23-21 and the Smith-Faulkner came at an astounding run rate at 15.93 per over.
Teams:
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: CH Gayle, PA Patel (wk), V Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, VH Zol, JA Morkel, MA Starc, VR Aaron, YS Chahal, AB Dinda
RAJASTHAN ROYALS: AM Rahane, KK Nair, SV Samson (wk), SR Watson (capt), STR Binny, SPD Smith, R Bhatia, JP Faulkner, KW Richardson, PV Tambe, R Tewatia