Dinesh Karthik’s fantastic blitz helped Royal Challengers Bangalore outclass Delhi Capitals by 16 runs in a thriller as the Faf du Plessis-led side won their fourth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on a pulsating Saturday at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. It was RCB’s fourth win in six games and they are now third in the points table, while Delhi slumped to their third loss in five outings.
WARNER SPECIAL
David Warner looked on the song from the very first delivery as he got off the mark with a six before scoring his 52nd IPL fifty. Warner hit five sixes and four fours before his fiery knock came to an end in Wanindu Hasaranga’s over. His wicket signalled a shift in momentum as RCB made a strong comeback with Delhi losing a flurry of wickets. First, Marsh’s painstaking knock 14 off 24 balls came to an end thanks to a bizarre run out. Josh Hazlewood (3/28), who was exceptional, then bowled a brilliant 15th over, dismissing Rovman Powell for a first ball duck and then accounting for Lalit Yadav (1).
KOHLI REMOVES PANT
Virat Kohli showed off all his athletic ability as he grabbed a stunner to remove Rishabh Pant who was going great guns with the bat after having smashed Mohammed Siraj in the 17th over of the chase. However, the ex-RCB captain timed his jump to perfection to take a wow catch as Pant’s innings and DC’s hopes came to an end.
KARTHIK BLITZ
Dinesh Karthik made batting look easy as he slammed an unbeaten 66, taking the attack to Mustfizur Rahman in the 18th over after Glenn Maxwell produced a blistering half-century, to lift Royal Challengers Bangalore to 189 for five against Delhi Capitals in their Indian Premier League match on Saturday.
Karthik raced away to 66 off just 34 deliveries, while Maxwell got seven boundaries and two sixes in his 55 off 34 deliveries. Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed (32*) scored 74 runs in the last five overs. Karthik, who has been reveling in his role as a finisher this season, hit five fours and as many sixes in his sensational knock.
With Maxwell gone, Karthik and Shahbaz joined forces. The wicketkeeper made the batting look effortless as he cracked four boundaries and two maximum off Mustafizur to plunder 28 runs in the 18th over and bring his fifty in style.
Earlier in the day, Lucknow Super Giants rode on captain KL Rahul’s 3rd IPL hundred to hand Mumbai Indians their sixth successive defeat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2022. Riding on Rahul’s hundred and a 3-wicket haul from Avesh Khan, LSG outclassed Rohit Sharma’s men. With six consecutive defeats, MI’s tournament is as good as over even before the season has reached the halfway stage.
RAHUL OUTSMARTS ROHIT
Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul came up with a batting masterclass and smashed a 56-ball hundred in his 100th IPL game to put five-time champions Mumbai Indians all but out of the ongoing season with an 18-run win on Saturday. Lucknow have now won four games out of six while MI are winless, having lost a dozen games on the trot for the first time in 15 editions of the IPL.
On the way to his hundred, he stitched a 52-run stand for the opening stand with Quinton de Kock (24), 72 with Manish Pandey (38), and another solid 43 runs with Deepak Hooda (15) for the fourth wicket. Rahul’s unbeaten 60-ball 103, his third hundred in the Indian Premier League, lifted Lucknow to a competitive total of 199 for four and then Avesh Khan-led LSG bowlers joined the party to restrict MI to 181 for nine in 20 overs.
KL Rahul became only the 7th batter in the history of the IPL to get to the three-figure mark more than 2 times. The LSG brought up his 3rd IPL hundred, emulating former South Africa batter AB de Villiers and Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson, who also have 3 hundreds each.