Harshal, Karthik star as RCB sneak past KKR

The Royal Challengers Bangalore got off the mark in IPL 2022 in a low-scoring thriller at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai as Faf du Plessis’ side waited until 19.2 overs to chase down KKR’s total of 128. After failing to defend 200 against Punjab on Sunday, the RCB bowlers bounced back in style as they dismissed the Knight Riders in 18.5 overs thanks to some excellent spells from Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel and Akash Deep.

With the bat, Bangalore nearly made a meal out of a straightforward run-chase, but Dinesh Karthik and Harshal Patel held their nerve at the death to take the team over the line with four balls to spare.

Most teams have struggled against the new ball while batting first in the opening week of the IPL, and that theme continued on Wednesday as the Knight Riders lost three wickets in the powerplay after being put into bat. Left-handers Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana were both hurried by short balls from Akash Deep, while Ajinkya Rahane pulled one straight to Shahbaz Ahmed at deep square leg to leave Kolkata reeling at 44 for three.

Faf du Plessis introduced Wanindu Hasaranga into the attack after the powerplay, and the leg-spinner cut through the KKR middle order, as Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Narine and Sheldon Jackson departed while looking to take on the Sri Lankan. Despite the flurry of wickets, KKR continued to go on the offensive, with Andre Russell creaming Shahbaz Ahmed for a couple of maximums. However, the big West Indian was expertly denied any scoring opportunities by Harshal Patel and edged behind to Dinesh Karthik while chasing a wide delivery.

Hasaranga added a fourth with the wicket of Tim Southee to reduce KKR to 101 for nine in 14.3 overs, but Umesh Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy shared a pivotal 27-run partnership for the final wicket to take Kolkata to a more respectable total of 128.

In the run-chase, RCB were instantly put on the back foot as Umesh Yadav continued his exploits in the powerplay, dismissing Anuj Rawat and Virat Kohli in his first two overs with some away seam movement. Between those two dismissals, Tim Southee had Faf du Plessis caught off a leading edge by Ajinkya Rahane at point.

Following those early setbacks, David Willey and Sherfane Rutherford led the RCB recovery, adding 45 runs at less than run a ball and crucially preventing a middle-order collapse. Willey eventually perished against Sunil Narine in the 11th over, but his dismissal brought Shahbaz Ahmed to the crease, who turned the game on its head. Promoted above Dinesh Karthik to take on the bowlers, Ahmed hit three sixes off Andre Russell and Varun Chakravarthy in his excellent cameo of 27 from 20. 

Although Chakravarthy had Ahmed stumped to have the last laugh, RCB had enough batting depth in reserve to finish the nervy run-chase. Tim Southee picked up two wickets in an excellent 18th over, but Dinesh Karthik and Harshal Patel both struck crucial blows in the last two overs to take the team home with four balls and three wickets to spare.