Karthik gives RCB unlikely win

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the twelfth game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Dinesh Karthik was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Buttler struggles before supplying powerful finish

Jos Buttler had come into this game off the back of a superb century against the Mumbai Indians. Perhaps most had expected that to mean the opener would take the tournament by storm. However, Buttler played one of his weirder innings on Tuesday.

From the start, he seemed to struggle, often failing to find the middle of the bat. In fact, most thought he was a goner in the 7th over, but his fellow Englishman David Willey put down a catch. For the most part, though, the drop did not prove to be too costly, with Buttler chugging along at just over a-run-a-ball.

It further did not help RR that the wickets kept tumbling at the other end. Yashasvi Jaiswal was cleaned up early by Willey; Devdutt Padikkal got deceived by Harshal Patel’s slower ball after keeping the scoreboard ticking; Sanju Samson was taken by surprise by Wanindu Hasaranga.

There was some stability restored when Shimron Hetmyer joined Buttler at the crease. However, he, too, struggled in similar fashion. Even after the 18th over, the Royals would have probably taken 150 as a team total. The two batters had other plans, though.

Hetmyer took charge, clubbing Siraj’s second ball of the 19th over for 4. Buttler then joined in the end of that over, creaming two sixes and reaching his 50 off 42 balls. The power duo then pounded 23 runs in the final over off Akash Deep, the man who could have gotten Buttler at the start of the innings, boshing the team total to 169.

The ploy with Ashwin backfires

Starting the chase for their side, Faf du Plessis and Anuj Rawat started brightly, making the task seem menial. As such, Samson was forced to turn to Ravichandran Ashwin in the powerplay itself, with the hope of dismissing Rawat, a left-hander.

Rawat was cautious against the experienced bowler, leaving his captain to do the scoring. Ashwin was not particularly expensive in the powerplay. However, he was, at the start of the game, meant to boss the middle overs with Yuzvendra Chahal. The fact that they had to use half his quota of overs within the powerplay meant RCB held the slightest of edges, psychologically at least.

Karthik’s still got it

Despite the bright start in the powerplay, RCB were unable to capitalise on the foundation laid out for them. Yuzvendra Chahal came back to haunt his former team, and spun a web around them.

Chahal first tempted du Plessis into playing a big shot, only to find Trent Boult at the boundary. Navdeep Saini, also a former Challenger, then got rid of Rawat off an edge in the next over. Chahal then struck twice again, first completing a runout to see the end of Virat Kohli before cleaning up Willey with the most beautiful of deliveries. Once Sherfane Rutherford was dismissed as well, RCB turned to their wicketkeeper and finisher, Dinesh Karthik.

Karthik, who has had a quiet couple of seasons, started off as if he’d been batting for an hour already. With the equation standing at 82 runs required off 42 balls, Karthik smashed Ashwin for 21 runs, the turning point of the match. Karthik, with the help of Shahbaz Ahmed, then whipped Saini for 16 runs in the next over. Slowly, but surely, RCB were clawing their way back into the game.

Ahmed continues to impress

Despite coming in to bat earlier than Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed was cautious, mainly because of the number of wickets that were falling. Once Karthik took on the bowlers, though, Ahmed, too, freed up. In fact, after Karthik had turned the tide, it was Ahmed who took the lead.

As the crunch overs came, Ahmed swung at Prasidh Krishna to collect 13 more runs off the 15th over, before taking on Trent Boult for a four and a six in the 18th over as well. Ahmed soon got bowled out by the Kiwi, but the course had been set for an RCB finish. Karthik, along with Patel, saw the Royal Challengers through with five balls to spare.