Royal Challengers Bangalore finally managed to get off the mark in IPL 2022 with a three-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the sixth match of the 15th edition of the cash-rich league at DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday (March 30).
Chasing a lowly129, the match went into the final over, before Dinesh Karthik hit Andre Russell for a six and a four to clinch the issue. With this RCB also earned their first win of the season. Wanindu Hasaranga stood tall with his spellbinding spell of 4/20 to rip through the KKR's batting line-up and leave them in shambles. Later he was adjudged Man of the Match for his sensational bowling.
Batting second RCB In reply, Sherfane Rutherford (28), David Willey (18) and Shahbaz Ahmed (27) played crucial innings as RCB survived some anxious moments before overhauling the target, scoring 132 for 7 in 19.2 overs after Tim Southee (3/20) and Umesh Yadav (2/16) blew away their top-order.
Yadav and Southee troubled the top-order batters with their pace and bounce, leaving RCB at 17/3 at one stage.
While Anuj Rawat (0) got a thick outside edge off Umesh, Faf Du Plessis (5) got a leading edge to the point fielder and Virat Kohli (12) paid the price for playing away from the body.
Willey and Rutherford then tried to rebuild the chase with a 45-run stand but Sunil Narine broke the partnership in the 11th over as he had the former caught at midwicket.
Coming to the crease, Shahbaz pulled Andre Russell for two maximums as RCB amassed 15 runs to ease the pressure.
Needing 36 off 30 balls, Shahbaz hit another six off Chakravarthy before being deceived by the bowler as RCB slumped to 101 for 5.
With pressure mounting, Rutherford went for a slog only to be caught behind off Southee.
Needing 17 off last two overs, Harshal Patel smashed two fours, while Dinesh Karthik (14 not out) blasted a six and a four in the first two balls of the last over to take the team home.
Earlier, KKR batters struggled with the extra bounce and went for shots too many despite losing wickets at regular intervals.
None of the batters could capitalise on the starts as KKR lost six wickets for 57 runs to slip from 44/3 to 101 for 9 in 14.3 overs.
Big-hitting West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell was the highest scorer for KKR with a 18-ball 25, while Umesh Yadav (18) and Varun Chakravarthy (10) added 27 runs, the fourth-highest for the 10th wicket in IPL history, to provide some respectability to the total.
Venkatesh Iyer was the first to be dismissed with Akash Deep striking on his first delivery, while Ajinkya Rahane's shaky start ended when he was holed out in the fifth over off Siraj as KKR slipped to 32/2.
Nitish Rana too perished quickly with David Willey producing a stunning catch as KKR slipped to 44/3 in the first six overs. Skipper Shreyas Iyer then paid the price for an irresponsible shot, hitting straight to Du Plessis at long-on for Hasaranga's first wicket.
Despite the match situation, West Indies all-rounder Sunil Narine went for his shots, sending Akash Deep across mid-off before top-edging him for a maximum.
However, Hasaranga came back to strike twice in two balls as KKR slumped to 67/6 in 9 overs. While Narine ended up giving an easy catch to point fielder, Sheldon Jackson was cleaned up with a ripping googly.
Sam Billing, who survived an LBW appeal in his first ball, slammed a six before making his way back to the hut with a miscued pull which was comfortably held by Kohli at long-on.
Russell then smashed three sixes and a four before edging Patel to Karthik, while Tim Southee mistimed one to Du Plessis to become Hasaranga's fourth victim.
