Karthik and Shahbaz show the way as Royal Challengers triumph in the Battle Royale

You won’t simply witness a better turnaround than this as the Royal Challengers Bangalore scripted a remarkable victory to deal the first dampening blow to the Royals spirits. A match that had the pendulum shuddering from one side to the other, it was the Challengers who had the last laugh, thanks to a spartan partnership between Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed.

Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to field first and the Challengers were off to a flying start as David Willey pulled off an absolute peach to kiss Yashashvi Jaiswal’s bails with clinical precision. The Challengers could have very well held the game by the scruff of its neck when they had the chance as Jos Butler was spared more than once in quick succession that blew back life into the Royals batting.

Former RCB opener, Devdutt Padikkal came together with the English biffer to stitch together an important stand of resistance but the RCB bowlers were bang on their money that didn’t allow the Royals to break free. It was once again RCB’s strike bowler who dealt the all-important blow that bagged the big scalp of Padikkal.

RCB struck again in a very short span of time as Sri Lankan talisman, Wanindu Hasaranga claimed the big wicket of Sanju Samson for cheap. However, since then it was a war of how controlled can the RCB bowlers be and all of them had their deliveries on target that they just wouldn’t let two of the biggest strikers in T20 cricket to shirk off the manacles. Had it not been for Butler’s blitzkrieg in the last couple of overs laced with a biggie from Shimron Hetmeyer, RCB would have been in pursuit of a far-lesser total.

Chasing 170, RCB was off to an absolute blinder as Faf du Plessis and Anuj Rawat brought out the heavy artillery early in the game. The duo fired home a crucial 55-runs partnership that saw Faf racking up 29 off 20 while Anuj Rawat stitched together an anchoring knock of 26, settling the frayed nerves of the Challengers.

However, in a shocking turn of events, the Royals clawed back in style as Chahal drew first blood. Faf du Plessis completely missed the turner and his down-the-ground effort went straight into the arms of Trent Boult. Anuj Rawat followed his trail in a very short span of time as Sanju Samson completed an easy take off Navdeep Saini to bid adieu to the youngster.

Much to the surprise of the RCB fans, Virat Kohli completely lost track of his partner and his sudden dart down the pitch ended up in Sanju Samson pulling off an electric effort that left Virat short of the crease with Yuzvendra Chahal pulling off a brilliant run-out.

David Willey was left stunned after Chahal’s peach barrelled through his defenses to clatter onto his timbre. With RCB teetering at 62 for 4, Sherfane Rutherford and Shahbaz Ahmed stuck together for a while that saw them putting up an important partnership of 25 runs that would be the first daub of salve over RCB’s warring wounds.

Sherfane Rutherford was completely outdone by Trent Boult’s pace and Navdeep Saini completed a brilliant catch to dig the grave deeper for the Challengers. However, the scalp of Rutherford seemed like a blessing in disguise. It paved the way for Dinesh Karthik in the middle and the seasoned T20 batter was off to business straight away.

He whacked around the RR bowlers in front of the rising heat while Shahbaz would occasionally come up with a couple of colossal strikes that would simply leave Rajasthan scrambling desperately for shelter in the midst of raining boundaries.

Even though Shahbaz Ahmed fell just before the finishing line, yet the job was done and with Harshal next to the crease, it was game over for the Royals. Karthik stayed unbeaten for 44 off just 23 balls while Shahbaz got out for a 26-ball-45. As RCB bagged their second win of the tournament, things would only go from strength to strength with the Aussie contingent joining the RCB ranks shortly.