"New RCB stars blew away Rajasthan Royals" | RR vs RCB - IPL 2022

Failure was threatening the RCB but Dangerous Dinesh Karthik, as a spirited finisher concluded RR's unbeaten story. RCB might be optimistic after its fantabulous victory against KKR but as an unbeaten side so far in the tournament, RR was even more confident.

As the regular custom of this season, winning the toss by Faf was followed by choosing the chasing. With big hitters on either side, Wankhede, as always, assured a high scoring game with nail-biting moments. Both the teams pinned their hopes on the same playing XI.

RCB started its attack with its Speedster Siraj and in the opening over, he attacked with his pace, swing and an array of fuller balls. With four dots, it was an amazing over, but the real kick start was given by Willey in the very next over. When he had sent a ball to Jaiswal to swing in, it found its gap between the bat and the pad to hit the stumps. Jaiswal had to leave for 4. But RR had nothing to worry about as they had ex RCB opener Padikkal to deal with RCB bowlers in power-play overs. RHB and LHB combinations continued to trouble the bowling side.

Du Plessis wanted to maintain the pressure and momentum by giving the full quota of 4 overs to Willey and bringing attacking Akash Deep to another end to bowl. Three wickets taken by Akash in the last match were recommending him again to bowl inside the powerplay. Akash started his spell well and his second over brought some game-changing moments. Butler does not throw his wicket very often, that too twice in an over. It happened in the first ball of that over when Akash missed a caught and bowled chance and in the fourth ball, Willey missed the catch opportunity given by him. Next over saw another catch drop for Padikkal to add pain to RCB fans. That was a big blow for the team.

That partnership was building up and RCB had to do something to place a speed breaker, as they had known that that pair would travel in top gear, in the next few overs, which may skyrocket the target. Hasaranga was introduced and he tried to break it up with his Googly and leg break but the breakthrough was brought by Purple Patel when he struck and sent Padikkal in the first over of his spell. It was an unbelievable catch from Kohli and at the halfway mark of the innings, RR was 76/2.

Bashing Butler and Smashing Samson expected to demolish the RCB's bowling line up but Hasaranga was the saviour for them. It was like a Samson vs Hasaranga show for a short time, but finally, Samson fell into his trap. RCB bowlers could bowl some tight overs with perfect line and length except Siraj and Akash's costly ones at the end. But throughout the innings, they could not keep Butler out of the game. With Hetmyer to support in one side, Butler played a distinguished innings once again to take the score to 169 runs. But, if not for Siraj and Akash's expensive 10.5+ economies, the target may be even easier for RCB.

Du Plessis' side had an eye on 170 and hope on dew. RCB started with du Plessis and Anuj Rawat while Samson initiated the attack with Boult and Prasidh. The pacers hardly could get any help from the pitch and batsmen had their show in the powerplay overs. Whatever may be the line of the ball, whether it went on the leg side or outside the off stump, Anuj created his opportunity from the opponent's mistake by coming down the track to hit back to back boundaries in Prasidh's over. Boult's balls faced heavy damage for three boundaries by this pair. Ashwin's first spell was decent with just 13 runs in 12 balls inside the powerplay.

Everything went on well for RCB till that moment and then started the decline of its reign. 7 th over commenced the wicket falling ceremony and from there, RR had all their reasons to celebrate in the next three overs. Pace could have failed but the spin came to their rescue. Heard about defeating the enemy with his weapon? Well, exactly it was happening at that moment for RCB. Chahal's rivalry against its old franchise was worth watching. Du Plessis punished Chahal's ball which fell in the slot but the last ball of that over did the magic. A fuller ball went on the leg stump line, Du Plessis aimed at going for a big shot again, but he mistimed it to finish up for a catch to Boult. Miseries started whirling around RCB from that moment. Saini, another Ex RCBian sent back the opener Anuj Rawat with a cutter in the next over.

Even these two destructions were repairable. But irrecoverable injuries occurred with the run out of Kohli followed by Willey falling for the leg break from Chahal. That was an excellent piece of fielding and stumping efforts from Samson and Chahal to put a full stop to Kohli. The elegant leg break which bowled out Willey speaks voluminously about Chahal's potential. Wicket-less powerplay followed by four wickets in the three overs shook the grounds of RCB.

Then again Saini's short ball concluded Rutherford's time on the field to push RCB to a danger zone. The viewers would have predicted it as the winning of two more points for RR, but as warriors, Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz were fighting to win the clash without giving up. It was an unbelievable partnership, in the end, to lift up the team from the valley. They did not play in the defending mode but had an attacking approach, right from the beginning. Except for Chahal, no one else could keep them under control.

Ashwin's second spell was a disaster. Dinesh Karthik hit three boundaries and one sixer in that over and that is where RCB came back to the track. The difference between the required runs and the remaining balls was reduced gradually and step by step they were accelerating towards the target. Shahbaz scored 45 runs in 26 balls in a remarkable way before getting bowled by Boult on the last ball of the 18th over.

With 12 balls left and 15 runs to be scored, the equation became so simple for RCB and it was, even more, easier with Dinesh Karthik, the one who turned the tide already in RCB's favour, on the field. In 23 balls, Dinesh Karthik hit 44 runs and proved himself as a splendid finisher once again. Harshal Patel hit the ball to deep mid-wicket, to register one more victory to their account.

The three catch drops and the pathetic bowling at the last two overs to sponsor 42 runs were the costliest mistakes done by the RCB. But the wicketless powerplay and the incredible innings from Dinesh and Shahbaz in death overs like-spirited Devils won the game for RCB. Still, RR is on the top of the table, but this may disturb their momentum but boost RCB's confidence.