Rajasthan and Bangalore locked horns in the 13th match of the Indian T20 League at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday. Both teams came off a win in their respective games. Rajasthan had beaten five-time winners Mumbai in their previous game while Bangalore had beaten two-time winners Kolkata. As has been the trend in this edition, the three-time finalists won the toss and elected to field first. Though, the last three games were won by teams batting first.
Coming back to the contest, the inaugural winners lost their opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (4) to David Willey in the second over of the innings with the score reading 6/1. Devdutt Padikkal and Jos Buttler, though, played steadily and took the score to 35/1 at the end of the powerplay. In the seventh over, bowled by Akash Deep, Buttler was dropped twice in the same over. He was first drooped by the bowler and then by David Willey.
In the next over, Padikkal got a reprieve from Mohammed Siraj as well. The duo stitched a partnership of 70 runs before the former got out off Harshal Patel in the 10th. Skipper Sanju Samson (8) soon followed as he was caught by Wanindu Hasaranga of his own bowling. Shimron Hetmyer and Buttler, then played cautiously and took the scoreboard to 127/3 in 18 overs. In the last two overs, the duo changed gears and added 42 runs to take the team to a competitive 169/3.
In reply, the Men in Red and Black got off a decent start as skipper Faf du Plessis (29), and Anuj Rawat added 55 runs in 7 overs. It was Yuzvendra Chahal who got RR their first breakthrough in the form of Faf du Plessis on the final ball of the seventh over. Rawat followed in the next over as he was accounted by Navdeep Saini. This triggered a collapse and the team suddenly lost five wickets for 87 runs on the board.
However, Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Nadeem then joined hands and put on a match-winning 67-run partnership. Boult clean bowled Shahbaz Ahmed (45 off 26) in the 18th over, however, Bangalore had almost won the game by that time. Dinesh Karthik, on the other hand, stayed till the end and ensured the team got over the line with 5 balls remaining in the match.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to RCB’s unbelievable victory against RR
KKR, Shahbaz is from your backyard. Why is he starring for RCB?
— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) April 5, 2022
Well played Shahbaz Ahmed. Not often spoken about enough – But almost always manages to make an impression. #RRvsRCB
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) April 5, 2022
DK has already played three important knocks this season. And this is just the third game for #RCB #IPL2022
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 5, 2022
So so much to admire about @DineshKarthik. This has been sensational. Never say never with DK.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 5, 2022
Brilliant finish from @DineshKarthik and that partnership with Shahbaz was sensational for @RCBTweets good win for them. @vedakmurthy08 must join the show!!. #RRvRCB
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 5, 2022
Both him and shabaz 💥🔥
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) April 5, 2022
DK used all his experience to pull an incredible victory for #RCB #RCBvRR #DineshKarthik #IPL2022
— Vinay Kumar R (@Vinay_Kumar_R) April 5, 2022
A win in style, what a knock @DineshKarthik, just superb display of an ideal finish. The man single handedly turning the tideðŸ‘#RCBvRR #IPL2022
— Reema Malhotra (@ReemaMalhotra8) April 5, 2022
@DineshKarthik and #Shahbaz they have won it for RCB .. brilliant batting .. well done @RCBTweets congratulations @IPL #RCBvsRR
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 5, 2022
This was a special innings from the uncapped Shahbaz Ahmed. And Dinesh Karthik continues to live up to his finishers role for RCB.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 5, 2022
Can Dinesh Karthik be the man that some other teams also need towards the end of an innings on a bigger stage? #IPL #IPL2022 #TATAIPL2022 #cricket #CricketTwitter #Justasking
— Chandresh Narayanan (@chand2579) April 5, 2022
