The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) emerged victorious for the second consecutive time in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 by defeating the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 4 wickets on Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.  

Match-defining knocks from Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed powered RCB to a memorable victory as they chased down the target of 170 in a high-octane clash.

Chasing 170, RCB openers – Faf du Plessis and Anuj Rawat got off to a confident start. Both du Plessis and Rawat hit four fours each in the powerplay and RCB were 48-0 after 6 overs. 

Yuzvendra Chahal, who was introduced into the attack in the 7^th over, broke the opening partnership after RCB skipper holed out to long-on. 

RCB lost track of the chase after they lost three crucial wickets in the span of two overs. First, opener Rawat was caught behind for 26 off Navdeep Saini’s bowling. 

Later, in the 9^th over, Virat Kohli was run-out for 5. On the very next delivery, David Willey was bamboozled by Chahal, who disturbed the timber to scalp his second wicket. 

RCB scored 15 runs off the 12^th over after Shahbaz Ahmed hit two sixes and a four. However, RR continued to attack with the ball as a fantastic diving catch from Navdeep Saini brought an end to Rutherford’s innings. 

Dinesh Karthik, who was the next man in, changed the course of the game with his outstanding counter-attacking shots. The right-handed batter clubbed three fours and a six against Ashwin in the 14^th over.

The following over by Saini conceded 16 runs. Karthik was timing his shots to perfection as he added two more fours to the total.

Shahbaz Ahmed on the other end played a fine supporting role as the fifty partnership was up for the duo. 

With 28 required off the final three overs, Shahbaz Ahmed smacked a four and six each against Boult before he was cleaned up by the left-arm pacer. 

The equation was down to 15 off the final two overs as Dinesh Karthik wrapped the chase in style and remained unbeaten on 44 off 23 deliveries while Harshal Patel hit the final six to take RCB home. 

Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals, who were put in to bat first, remained unchanged from the previous game. RR lost an early wicket in form of Yashasvi Jaiswal after David Willey knocked the off-stump to dismiss the left-handed batter for 4. 

RR batted cautiously, thanks to some fiery pace bowling from the RCB seamers and were 35-1 at the end of 6 overs, with Padikkal and Buttler at the crease. 

Buttler was dropped twice in the 7^th over and the batter capitalised on the opportunity by smashing his first maximum of the innings.

Both Padikkal and Buttler smacked a six each as the fifty partnership was up for the second wicket. 

It took a special catch from Virat Kohli to break the partnership and Padikkal was dismissed for 37. Hasaranga joined the party to take a crucial wicket of Sanju Samson after the RR skipper was caught and bowled in the 12^th over. 

Shimron Hetmyer hit consecutive boundaries to get off the mark but Harshal Patel and Hasaranga did not let the momentum slip away from RCB by bowling dot balls. 

After 16 overs, RR were 107-3 before Hetmyer struck a maximum and added to fours to the total. Jos Buttler reached his half-century in the penultimate over by smacking consecutive sixes against Siraj. 

RR hammered 23 runs off the final over after Buttler clobbered 2 sixes while Hetmyer smacked the final delivery for a six as RR concluded their innings with a total of 169-3. 

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 173-6  (Shahbaz Ahmed 45, Dinesh Karthik 44*; Yuzvendra Chahal 2-15) beat Rajasthan Royals 169-3 (Jos Buttler 70*, Shimron Hetmyer 42; Harshal Patel 1-18) beat by 4 wickets.