IPL 2022, RCB vs KKR, Top Performances: RCB scrape through after Hasaranga, Harshal dismantle KKR

Top Performances from RCB v KKR, Match 06, IPL 2022 - Hasaranga, Harshal Patel hand RCB victory over KKR

Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Kolkata Knight Riders by three wickets (Image ©BCCI_IPL)

Brief Scores: RCB 132/7 (Rutherford 28, Ahmed 27, Southee 20/3, Yadav 16/2) beat KKR 128 (Russell 25, Hasaranga 20/4, Akash Deep 45/3) by three wickets

Player of the match - Wanindu Hasaranga for a match-winning spell of 20/4

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were up against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy Stadium in Mumbai in the 15th season of Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday.

The Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata side made one change from their previous match eleven by including Tim Southee in place of Shivam Mavi, however, Faf du Plessis-led Bangalore kept the same eleven from their first game.

RCB come out on top in a close tussle in the final over

Faf du Plessis won the toss and put the opposition in to bat first on the turf of DY Patil Stadium which aids the chasing team usually. His pacers proved him right and took the first three wickets in the first six overs only. Also, leggie Wanindu Hasaranga wove his spin web around KKR batters and bagged three wickets.

Andre Russell tried to revive the innings with his long-range hits, however, pacer Harshal Patel removed him on 25. KKR got all-out on a meagre total of 128 due to the threatening bowling of Akash Deep, Harshal Patel and Hasaranga.

While chasing a moderate target of 129, RCB lost three quick wickets within the powerplay which included the likes of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, however, David Willy and Sherfane Rutherford bailed out their side by adding 45 runs for the fourth wicket. After another collapse of RCB, the knocks of Dinesh Karthik and Harshal Patel helped their side to get past the target in a nail-biting finish.

Top three performances from RCB vs KKR game, IPL 2022:

Wanindu Hasaranga takes 4-20 against KKR and gets player of the match (Image ©BCCI/IPL)

Wanindu Hasaranga breaks the back of Kolkata

After three wickets by pacers in the powerplay, leg-spinner Hasaranga came to bowl against the Kolkata batters. The 24-year-old spinner foxed one of the best players of spin in the world, Shreyas Iyer, on a personal score of 13 to put the side from the eastern metropolis in trouble. Iyer went for a big shot towards long-on off the spinner, but couldn’t get the required elevation and Faf du Plessis didn’t make any mistake with the catch.

When explosive batter Sunil Narine was looking dangerous, Hasaranga removed him on just 12. Also, on the next delivery, he cleaned up the stumps of Saurashtra veteran Sheldon Jackson to send him to the dugout on a golden duck. These wickets of Hasaranga left Kolkata in a miserable position of 67 for six inside the first half of the innings.

Hasaranga returned for his final over in the innings and took the wicket of Tim Southee. The performance of Hasaranga was the premier reason why RCB was able to bundle out Kolkata on a paltry total of 128.

Read More: IPL 2022, RCB vs PBKS, Top Performances: Rajapaksa's 43(22), Odean Smith's 25*(8) take Punjab home

Umesh Yadav takes 2-16 against RCB in Match 06 (Image ©BCCI_IPL)

Umesh Yadav tears down Bangalore’s top order, Tim Southee bags three

Indian speedster Umesh Yadav produced a ferocious pace bowling spell against RCB. While defending a small total of 129 runs, he stunned opener Anuj Rawat with extra bounce and the delivery took the edge which went into the gloves of wicketkeeper Sheldon Jackson. Anuj Rawat registered his first duck in IPL in only his second match. Next batter Virat Kohli pummelled two boundaries off Yadav but the latter replied with a fantastic length ball which drew the edge of Kohli’s wicket making him depart for a personal score of 12.

Before this game, Yadav dismissed Kohli only twice in 11 IPL games. Virat's strike rate against Yadav before this game was 174.1, which probably made the former take a casual approach against Yadav; this approach backfired dearly and RCB were reduced to 17 for three.

Kiwi pacer Tim Southee produced a jaffa to send RCB skipper Faf du Plessis back in just the second over of the innings. The right-arm pacer also removed set batter Sherfane Rutherford and all-rounder Hasaranga in the final moments of the game to tilt the game towards the KKR side. However, his three wickets went in vain as RCB clinched the win by three wickets in the final over.

Read More: IPL 2022, CSK vs KKR, Top Performances: Rahane’s 44, Umesh’s 2-20 trump Dhoni’s 50*

Harshal Patel takes 2-11 against KKR (Image ©BCCI_IPL)

Harshal Patel’s 11/2 and finishing knock help his side bag their first win of the season

In the first innings, last season's purple cap winner Harshal Patel bagged the wicket of Sam Billings to reduce Kolkata to 83 for seven. Explosive batter Andre Russell was looking dangerous after smashing two sixes in the previous over. However, Harshal scalped dangerous-looking Andre Russel on 25. Before this game, the 31-year-old pacer dismissed Russell only once in three IPL games.

Harshal also contributed to the batting department by smashing two vital boundaries in the penultimate over to help his side reach within touching distance of the target

What’s to come

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will face one of the most successful franchises in IPL, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. The game is scheduled to begin at 19:30 hours IST.

Here are some of the Top Twitter reactions from RCB vs KKR, Match 06, IPL 2022:

Read More: IPL 2022, GT vs LSG, Top Performances: Shami's 3-25, Tewatia's 40*(24) hand Titans maiden win