IPL 2022: Hasaranga's 4/20 helps RCB beat KKR by three wickets in low-scoring thriller

The Sri Lankan was ably supported by the pace trio of Akash Deep (3/45), Harshal Patel (2/11) and Mohammed Siraj (1/25) after RCB won the toss and elected to bowl at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
Dinesh Karthik and Harshal Patel of Royal Challengers Bangalore with Kolkata Knight Riders players, after winning match 6 of the Indian Premier League 2022. (Photo | PTI)
Dinesh Karthik and Harshal Patel of Royal Challengers Bangalore with Kolkata Knight Riders players, after winning match 6 of the Indian Premier League 2022. (Photo | PTI)

CHENNAI: Royal Challengers Bangalore's bowling had come under the scanner after they failed to defend a target of 205 against Punjab Kings in their opening game. These are still early days in the league but RCB would have hoped that their frontline bowlers were just having an off day.

On Wednesday, after skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and decided to bowl first against Kolkata Knight Riders, it was time for them to press the reset button at the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai.

And after what was a forgettable outing to start their season, the bowlers pulled things back in style with Harshal Patel looking ominous again and Wanindu Hasaranga showing what a potent weapon he could be, reducing Kolkata to 128.

The total proved to be a tricky one but the RCB batters did just enough to take them over the line. RCB had chosen to stick with the same XI against a KKR outfit who had hardly put a foot wrong in their comfortable win against defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the season opener.

RCB enjoyed a good start with the likes of David Willey and Mohammed Siraj ensuring that the dangerous Venkatesh Iyer didn’t dominate. After being whacked for a boundary off his first ball, Siraj put the pressure back on Venkatesh with his pace and hard length.

The Kolkata batters were not allowed to settle thanks to a disciplined bowling effort. The pressure was building as Venkatesh fell to Akash Deep after being caught in two minds. It was Akask’s very first ball and the extra bounce caught the southpaw by surprise as he nudged it straight back towards the pacer.

Against Punjab, if all the bowlers except Shahbaz Nadeem (who bowled just one over) were conceding at nine runs per over, they looked in control here. By the end of the batting powerplay, the likes of Venkatesh, Ajinkya Rahane and Nitish Rana were back in the dressing room.

If Rahane had perished trying to pull Siraj, Rana’s stay in the middle was short thanks to a stunning fielding effort from Willey as RCB kept the pressure on. Hasaranga joined the act as he took out KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Narine and Sheldon Jackson in quick succession to leave the Kolkata side reeling at 67-6 in the ninth over.

Du Plessis was using his bowlers well as KKR weren’t being allowed to build partnerships. Just when it looked like Sam Billings and Andre Russell were stabilizing their innings, Harshal Patel was introduced into the attack.

Harshal produced a maiden in the 12th over which also yielded the wicket of Billings as it all boiled down to a battle between Russell and the bowlers. Russell targetted Shahbaz, who was pummelled for two sixes, as the left-arm spinner went for sixteen.

However, Harshal came back and took out the dangerman. After being thrown off his game with four dot balls, Russell slashed hard only to nick it to Dinesh Karthik.

Brief scores: KKR 128 in 18.5 ovs (Russell 25, Hasaranga 4/20) lost to RCB 132/7 in 19.2 ovs (Rutherford 28, Southee 3/20).

Today’s match LSG Vs CSK Live on Ss 7:30 PM @ mumbai

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