Man of the Match RCB vs RR today: Who was awarded Man of the Match in Royal Challengers vs Royals IPL 2021 match?

Man of the Match RCB vs RR: The opening batsman from Royal Challengers Bangalore played his career-best IPL innings tonight.

During the 16th match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai, Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Rajasthan Royals by 10 wickets in a thumping manner.

Chasing a 178-run target, Royal Challengers opening pair comprising of captain Virat Kohli and batsman Devdutt Padikkal put together a 181-run opening stand to seal the chase in the 17th over.

Earlier, it was Kohli who had won the toss and invited Rajasthan in to bat. Despite being reduced to 43/4 in the eighth over, Royals came back from behind to put on board a competitive 177/9 in 20 overs.

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All-rounders Shivam Dube (46) and Rahul Tewatia (40) played vital counter-attacking knocks to give their bowlers a respectable total to bowl at.

Man of the Match RCB vs RR

Having said that, Padikkal put to rest apprehension around his strike rate in this format scoring a career-best 101* (52) with the help of 11 fours and six sixes. In what was his maiden T20 century, Padikkal batted at a strike rate of 194.23 not giving the opposition bowlers a lot of chances of restricting him.

Having reached 41* (22) in the powerplay itself, Padikkal had outplayed Kohli with ease and maintained a similar tempo throughout the innings. It was in the eighth over that Padikkal hit a boundary off Riyan Parag to complete a 27-ball half-century.

With RCB needing eight runs to win in four overs, Padikkal hit a Mustafizur Rahman delivery for yet another effortless boundary to reach the three-figure mark. In what goes without saying, the 20-year old player was declared the ‘Man of the Match’.

“It’s been special. I could only wait my turn. When I was down with COVID, all I was thinking of was to come here and play the first match here. I couldn’t do that but was keen to contribute to the team’s win. The wicket was coming on really well and we got a good start. When you get into a partnership like that, it helps as runs come from both ends,” Padikkal told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.