13th match, RR vs RCB, IPL 2022: RCB won by 5 wickets
The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 for the second time in a row on Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, defeating the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by four wickets. In a high-octane encounter, Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed's match-defining knocks propelled RCB to a thrilling triumph. Faf du Plessis and Anuj Rawat, the RCB openers, got off to a strong start while chasing 170. In the powerplay, du Plessis and Rawat each struck four fours, and RCB were 48-0 after six overs.
After RCB skipper holed out to long-on, Yuzvendra Chahal, who came into the attack in the seventh over, broke the opening partnership. After losing three important wickets in the space of two overs, RCB lost track of the chase. First, opener Rawat was caught behind for 26 runs off the bowling of Navdeep Saini. Virat Kohli was afterwards run out for 5 in the 9th over. Chahal bamboozled David Willey with his following delivery, disturbing the timber to take his second wicket.
After Shahbaz Ahmed struck two sixes and a four in the 12th over, RCB scored 15 runs. RR, on the other hand, continued to attack with the ball, and Rutherford's innings was ended by a superb diving catch from Navdeep Saini. With his fantastic counter-attacking shots, Dinesh Karthik, the next player in, changed the game's trajectory. In the 14th over, the right-handed batter smashed three fours and a six against Ashwin. Saini's subsequent over yielded 16 runs. Karthik's shots were perfectly timed as he added two more fours to his total. On the other hand, Shahbaz Ahmed provided excellent assistance as the tandem approached their 50 partnership.
Shahbaz Ahmed hit a four and a six against Boult before being cleaned up by the left-arm pacer with 28 required off the final three overs. The equation was reduced to 15 off the final two overs as Dinesh Karthik completed the chase in style, remaining undefeated on 44 off 23 deliveries, while Harshal Patel hit the winning six. Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals, who were given the opportunity to bat first, did not modify their lineup from the previous game. RR lost an early wicket in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was dismissed for 4 by David Willey, who smashed the off-stump.
With Padikkal and Buttler at the crease, RR batted carefully, thanks to some blazing pace bowling from the RCB seamers, and were 35-1 after 6 overs. In the seventh over, Buttler was dropped twice, and he took advantage of the situation by blasting his first maximum of the innings. As the fifty stand came to an end for the second wicket, Padikkal and Buttler each hit a six. Virat Kohli's exceptional catch broke the partnership, as Padikkal was removed for 37 runs. After the RR skipper was caught and bowled in the 12th over, Hasaranga joined the party and took an important wicket of Sanju Samson.
Shimron Hetmyer smashed consecutive boundaries to get RCB off to a good start, but Harshal Patel and Hasaranga bowled dot balls to keep RCB in the game. RR were 107-3 after 16 overs before Hetmyer hit a maximum and added two fours to the score. Jos Buttler hit successive sixes against Siraj in the penultimate over to achieve his half-century. RR scored 23 runs in the final over after Buttler whacked two sixes and Hetmyer smacked the final delivery for a six, bringing their total to 169-3.
Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 173-6 (Shahbaz Ahmed 45, Dinesh Karthik 44*; Yuzvendra Chahal 2-15) beat Rajasthan Royals 169-3 (Jos Buttler 70*, Shimron Hetmyer 42; Harshal Patel 1-18) beat by 4 wickets.
