Royal Challengers Bangalore 173 for 6 (Shahbaz 45, Karthik 44*, Chahal 2-15) beat Rajasthan Royals 169 for 3 (Buttler 70, Hetmyer 42*, Padikkal 37) by four wickets

It was the Rutherford wicket that brought Karthik (23-ball 44*) and Shahbaz (26-ball 45) together, and they smacked 67 runs in 5.2 overs. Karthik punished R Ashwin as he erred, especially with his lines, and Shahbaz rose to the occasion by pulling Saini and Trent Boult for sixes at the back end, and Royal Challengers completed their fifth straight win over the Royals in the IPL. It was also their second win in a row this season after opening with a loss.

Kohli’s battle against Chahal promised premium entertainment, but it didn’t last long. Kohli, at the non-striker’s end, tried to steal a single that David Willey was not interested in, and an acrobatic run-grab-and-throw from Samson to Chahal had Kohli walking back for 5. Next ball, Willey was fooled by a Chahal legbreak and was bowled. From 55 for no loss, Royal Challengers had slipped to 62 for 4 in the space of 12 balls. Rutherford’s wicket not long after made it 87 for 5.

That partnership
Karthik hammered Ashwin, who up until his final over had gone for only 18. First, he walloped him through backward square-leg, then over long-on, followed by mid-off and finally third man for a 21-run over that reignited Royal Challengers’ hopes. He then took a toll on Saini with three boundaries through the leg side, and then left the stage for Shahbaz.

Shahbaz had taken the back seat to reach 16 in 14 balls, before he got moving too. He struck a six and a four each off Prasidh Krishna and Boult, and even though he couldn’t finish the game off, the match was practically over at the time of his dismissal.

For Karthik, it was another chance to show why he is among the most dangerous finishers in T20s. He has not yet been dismissed in the IPL, making 90 runs in 44 balls so far, and used the depth of the crease to great effect to put bowlers off their mark, maximising the area behind square on the leg side.

Padikkal hit two fours and two sixes in his 29-ball 37 from No. 3 after Willey had dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal early. But he was done in by a slower ball from Harshal Patel, who finished with figures of 1 for 18 in four overs.

Hetmyer took seven balls to get off the mark and, by the 16th over, Royals had made only 107 with seven wickets in the bank. Buttler had faced only 36 of those deliveries and scored 39 till that point.

But the slog-overs push did finally come, with Hetmyer punishing Mohammed Siraj and Harshal in the 17th and 18th overs, and Buttler creaming back-to-back sixes off Siraj’s 19th to reach his fifty in 42 balls.

Akash Deep, off whose bowling Buttler was dropped twice in one over in his first spell, then conceded three sixes in the 20th for the current Orange Cap holder to finish on 70 from 47, with Hetmyer ending unbeaten on 42 in 31 balls.