IPL 2022 | Ice cool DK and Shahbaz finish off in style as RCB hand RR their first defeat of the season

Yuzvendra Chahal's masterclass against his former franchise wasn't enough for the Rajasthan Royals failed to defend against 170 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore thanks to amazing counter-attacking knocks from Shahbaz Ahmed and Dinesh Karthik.

Chasing 170 to win on a turgid surface and against a side boasting of the spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin, the Royal Challengers needed a brisk start from their openers.

And while Anuj Rawat and Faf du Plessis, who survived a close LBW call off Prasidh, didn't look particularly comfortable in the middle, they did manage to get 48 runs in the first six without losing a wicket.

The problem started when the spinners, especially their former spearhead, Yuzvendra Chahal, came to the party.

Chahal made an impact straight away as he forced Du Plessis (29 off 20 deliveries) to try and hit him down the ground. The only problem was that Faf couldn't get it past Trent Boult, who claimed a comfortable catch to break the 55-run-stand.

The next 3-4 overs was vintage RCB at the helm as Rawat threw his wicket away by tamely pushing at a harmless delivery from Navdeep Saini, which he should have left followed by Virat Kohli getting run-out and  David Willey getting absolutely foxed by a leg-break from Chahal.

The Royals further turned on the screws as they dismissed a struggling Sherfane Rutherford for a 10-ball 5 to reduce the Faf-led unit to 86/5 in the 13th over.

However, the game once again turned on its head once Dinesh Karthik came to the crease. Karthik, who has been in sensational form this season, brought RCB right back in it when he smashed Ashwin for three fours and a six in the 14th over, taking the off-spinner for 21 runs.

The Royals further turned on the screws as they dismissed a struggling Sherfane Rutherford for a 10-ball 5 to reduce the Faf-led unit to 86/5 in the 13th over.

However, the game once again turned on its head once Dinesh Karthik came to the crease. Karthik, who has been in sensational form this season, brought RCB right back in it when he smashed Ashwin for three fours and a six in the 14th over, taking the off-spinner for 21 runs.

Karthik once again looked at the height of his powers as he played some delightful strokes, none better than the lap sweep off Saini for a four.

Shahbaz Ahmed and Karthik took the attack to Saini and Krishna as they took 29 runs off their two overs to reduce the equation to 32 off last 4.

They saw off Chahal's (2-15 in 4 overs) threat by milking him for 4 runs. Ahmed laid into Trent Boult in the 18th as he smashed him for a four and six before ultimately perishing in an attempt to scoop the left-arm pacer over fine-leg.

Ahmed played an outstanding knock of 45 from just 26 deliveries and while he couldn't finish it off, Karthik ensured that he did.

The champion finisher kept his cool and effectively killed the chase in the penultimate over by drilling Krishna for a four on the on-side followed by another one via a disdainful pull over backward square. Harshal nonchalantly finished it off with a six over deep mid-wicket on the first ball of the final over.

Jos Buttler's late flourish propelled Rajasthan Royals to 169/8

Earlier, a usually power-packed Rajasthan Royals' batting unit led by the mercenary Jos Buttler struggled to adapt on what was a sluggish, two-paced newly-relaid pitch at the Wankhede Stadium.

Usually, on such slow surfaces, the first six overs are the best time to bat. With the surfaces expected to get slow with every passing over, it's imperative for the batting side- especially if they are setting a target- to go hell for leather when the fielding restrictions aren't in place.

For that, you need both openers to come out firing all cylinders but none of that happened for the Royals' on Tuesday night as they lost Yashasvi Jaiswal for a six-ball 4 in just the second over.

Jaiswal had his stumps shattered by a delivery from David Willey that nipped back a bit. Buttler, just like the last game, was slow off his blocks initially and incisive bowling from Prasidh Krishna, David Willey and Mohammad Siraj played a role in that.

He managed just 10 off 14 deliveries in the powerplay while Devdutt Padikkal scored a 16-ball 19, thanks to some delightful strokes, as the Royals managed just 35 runs for the loss of one wicket.

The duo also rode their luck, especially Buttler, who was dropped twice in the 7th over by Akash Deep (off his own bowling) and David Willey (at deep square-leg) as the English swashbuckler desperately tried to break free.

He used the reprieve to good effect, smashing Deep for a six on the next delivery. Padikkal also got a reprieve in the next over during an attempt to hit a flat-six at deep square-leg as Siraj made a sensational effort but couldn't hold on.

The duo added another 40 runs in the next 3.5 overs post the powerplay before Harshal Patel broke the stand as he foxed Paddikkal with his stock delivery- the slower ball- to entice a proper hoick. Virat Kohli did a brilliant job as he ran backwards to complete what a complete skier.

Sanju Samson pumped Wanindu Hasaranga for a six like only he can but then also gave away his wicket in a typical Samson-manner. He freezed on the backfoot on a delivery he should have been forward to and chipped tamely to give an easy return catch to the bowler.

With the pitch getting slow and slow and Harshal used his cutters to deadly effect, Buttler and even Shimron Hetmyer failed to break free.

Harshal gave away just 18 runs off his four overs and while Hetmyer did smash Hasaranga for a couple of boundaries to edge past the score closer to 100 by the time the 14th over was done, it was pretty evident that RR needed a big push in the end to get anywhere near a par score.

The big push eventually came in the last two overs, where Rajasthan, thanks largely to Buttler and a no-ball from Deep, which wasn't really a no-ball, smashed as many 42 runs off the last 12 deliveries.

Buttler ended up redeeming himself for his slow going throughout the innings with a big flourish, staying unbeaten at a 47-ball 70 as RR posted 169/8, which ultimately proved to be inadequate in the end.

Brief Scores:

RR- 169/8 in 20 overs

Jos Buttler 70* (47)

Shimron Hetmyer 42* (31)

Devdutt Padikkal 37 (29)

Harshal Patel 1/18 (4)

David Willey 1/29 (4)

LOST to

RCB- 173/6 in 19.1 overs

Dinesh Karthik 44* (23)

Shahbaz Ahmed 45 (26)

Yuzvendra Chahal 2/15 (4)

By 4 wickets.