Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) continued to remain on top of the IPL table after recording their fourth consecutive win of the season.
The perfect start has helped them reach eight points and their dominant win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) has also given a boost to their net run rate (NRR), which has gone from +0.750 before the match to +1.009.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are placed second on the table, having won three and lost one of the four matches they have played thus far. They are tied on six points with third-placed Delhi Capitals (DC) but their NRR remains the best in the league thus far. CSK have an NRR of +1.142 while DC's NRR is +0.426.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) are two points behind DC in fourth place and have an NRR of +0.187. The teams below MI are all tied on two points and separated only by their NRRs. All the teams have won one and lost three of the matches they have played thus far. Rajasthan Royals, after their 10-wicket defeat to RCB on Thursday, are rock bottom with an NRR of -1.011.
Punjab Kings, with an NRR of -0.824, are above them in seventh place while Kolkata Knight Riders are sixth with an NRR of -0.700. SunRisers Hyderabad are fifth with an NRR of -0.228.
Thursday IPL Match
Devdutt Padikkal, with his unbeaten 181-run partnership with Virat Kohli against Rajasthan Royals, said that it was just a case of the pair complementing each other well. Padikkal, who scored his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) century, got to 80 runs off 36 balls in the first 10 overs while Kohli was on 26 off 24 balls at the same stag.
"We were complementing each other well throughout the innings, rotating the strike well. As we went on, we got better and better. It was just about trying to make sure we batted as long as possible and took the game out," said Padikkal in the post-match press conference.
Kohli accelerated after that point, eventually finishing the match unbeaten on 72 off 47 balls. Padikkal said that he had asked the RCB captain to finish the innings off.
"I was just looking to finish the game off. We wanted to get the win as early as possible and when I was out there I wasn't really thinking about the hundred. I wanted to make sure that we won the game and that is what I told Virat as well, I asked him to go for it because for me it was more important that we won," said Padikkal.
