IPL 2022 | RCB scrap to three-wicket win over KKR in low-scoring thriller

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have claimed their maiden points in IPL 2022 but not before they made a meal out of a meagre run-chase of 129 against an unrelenting Kolkata Knight Riders attack.

Defending a meagre total of 129, Kolkata Knight Riders desperately needed a flurry of wickets in the first six overs.

And, like in their first game against the Chennai Super Kings, Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee did just that as the duo knocked over Anuj Rawat, Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli cheaply.

Yadav, who claimed two wickets in the powerplay against CSK, started the slide as he induced an outside edge off Rawat and Kohli's bat in his first two overs.

Virat once again looked very good during his brief stay at the crease. He announced his arrival with a sumptuous cover drive and then backed it up with a typical flick on the on-side.

However, an extra bounce from Umesh proved to be his undoing as he ended up nicking the length delivery during an attempt to open the face of the bat.

Kohli's wicket came at the wrong time for RCB as they had just lost their skipper Faf in the previous over. du Plessis, who was trying to flick Southee across the line, was completely squared up by the Kiwi seamer. 

As a result, he ended up getting a leading catch, which Ajinkya Rahane safely pouched at backward point. 

RCB finished the powerplay at 3-36, with David Willey (18 off 28 deliveries) and Sherfane Rutherford (28 off 40 deliveries) together at the crease.

The duo did strike some lusty blows off Varun Chakravarthy. Still, it largely failed to even manoeuvre the strike- especially against Narine- meaning that the Challengers managed just 26 runs in the next five, with Willey eventually perishing to Narine.

With Rutherford scoring at less than run-a-ball, someone had to do the heavy lifting from the other end, and Shahbaz Ahmed decided to take the onus upon himself.

The southpaw proceeded to smash three sixes- 2 off Russell and 1 off Varun- during his 20-ball 27 before an attempt to go for the fourth led to his demise.

With 27 runs needed off the last four overs, and Dinesh Karthik at the crease, Shreyas decided to bring back Narine for his final over, and the off-spinner did not disappoint as he gave away just 4 runs to finish with brilliant figures of 1-12.

The equation eventually boiled down to 24 off 18 balls. Southee dealt a double blow to RCB as he dismissed Rutherford and Wanindu Hasaranga, giving just 7 runs.

Sheldon Jackson brilliantly caught rutherford while Hasaranga, who announced himself with a four, holed out at mid-off.

Shreyas gave the penultimate over to Venkatesh, but it proved to be a mistake as Harshal Patel hit the latter for a couple of fours to reduce the equation to 7 off six deliveries.

Karthik proceeded to put the finishing touches as he pulled Andre Russell for a six and then for a four to seal two points for his side.

Wanindu Hasaranga spins hopeless KKR into tizzy

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders' top-order was rocked by the pace of Akash Deep and Mohammad Siraj during the powerplay.

Deep dismissed opener Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana while Siraj knocked over the hero of the last game for KKR, Rahane, to leave the two-time champions reeling at 3-44 after six overs.

Venkatesh (10 off 14 deliveries) was hurried by the extra pace and bounce, which Akash Deep generated, while Rahane fell straight into the trap laid out for him by Faf and Siraj.

The former Indian Test vice-captain took on the short ball but ended up hitting it straight to short square-leg for a 10-ball 9.

Rana met the same fate as he got rushed by the pace and bounce that Deep generated and miscuing a pull shot. David Willey did the rest by claiming a brilliant catch running backwards.

At 3-44, KKR were in desperate need of a good knock from their skipper Shreyas and while he did start healthy- with a cover-drive off Deep- the stylish batsman proceeded to play an irresponsible shot and ended up getting caught by his opposite number at long-on.

This was Wanindu Hasaranga's first wicket of the night, and the Sri Lankan wrist-spinner went strength from thereon as KKR batters had no clue against his guile and trickery.

As usual, Sunil Narine came out swinging against the Pacers, smashing Deep for a four and a six off his first three deliveries, but Hasaranga ended his and Sheldon Jackson's stay at the crease in his second over to reduce KKR to 67/6 in the 9th over.

Andre Russell smoked a few lusty blows during his 18-ball 25, but Harshal Patel, who had previously dismissed Sam Billings, got rid of the West Indian with a scrambled-seam length delivery outside off-stump after a string of 11 consecutive dot deliveries.

Hasaranga returned to dismiss Tim Southee, who holed out in the deep during an attempt to slog him across the line, leaving KKR nine down and finishing his quota with figures of 4/20.

Umesh Yadav (18 off 12) and Varun Chakravarthy (10* off 16) smashed a few boundaries in the end, to take KKR's total to 128.

Brief Scores:

KKR 128 all-out (18.5) 

Andre Russell 25 (18), Umesh Yadav 18 (12); 

Wanindu Hasaranga 4/20 (4)

RCB 132/7 (19.2)

Shahbaz Ahmed 27 (20), DK Karthik 14* (7); 

Tim Southee 3/20 (4), Umesh Yadav 2/16 (4), Sunil Narine 1/12 (4) 

Royal Challengers Bangalore won by three wickets.