Rajasthan Royals faced their first defeat in this season’s Indian Premier League after winning both of their first two games. It was a thriller at the Wankhede as Dinesh Karthik’s heroics won the game for the RCB. Faf Du Plessis won the toss and elected to field. On a relatively slower wicket, Rajasthan lost three early wickets of Jaiswal, Padikkal, and skipper Sanju Samson. It was once again Jos Buttler who steadied the ship alongside Shimron Hetmayer to take the scorecard to 169/3.

In reply, RCB started brightly but after Faf went back to the dugout after making 29, things started to change in Royal’s favour. A superb effort from Sanju Samson ran out Virat Kohli after that and the target looked very far from there on to chase. However, RCB management kept a certain DK in their ranks and introduced him in the 13^th over. DK and Shahbaz Ahmed’s spectacular partnership won the game for RCB with 5 balls to spare. Let’s look at the talking points from the game –

Jos Buttler shines again as Yashasvi Jaiswal’s Flops Show continues

The orange cap holder is looking in the form of his life as he made another 70 not out of just 47 balls and most importantly stayed at the crease till the 20^th over. Buttler did not have the most fluent innings this game as he waited till the last overs to get into the attacking mode. On the other hand, Royal’s opener Yashasvi Jaiswal flopped yet again. Royals retained Jaiswal this year and sent him to open the batting instead of Devdutt Padikkal who is a proven successful opener.

Virat Kohli run-out

 It is one of the rarest things in cricket to see Virat Kohli getting run out. One of the finest runners between the wickets, Kohli got dismissed at 6 runs by the fastest of efforts of Sanju Samson. RCB fans certainly expect big runs from the bat of their ex-skipper Virat Kohli. After scoring a fine 41 in the opening game which RCB lost, Kohli has now two back to back low scores.

Yuzvendra Chahal Shines Against Former Team

Chahal definitely had a point to prove against his former side RCB. The leg spinner played for seven years there and the management did not even think of retaining him this season. Chahal was at his absolute best as he dismissed Faf Du Plessis in his first over and David Willey for a duck in his second spell. His figures of 2/15 were not enough in the end as all other Royals bowlers proved to be very expensive.

R Ashwin’s bad game: 

It has to be said that R Ashwin had an awful night with the ball. It was a very indisciplined performance from the great off-spinner. In his over things started to change for RCB as DK hit a six off a free hit after Ashwin overstepped and the momentum shifted completely. He also gave away too many wides in his spell.

‘Skinny’ Shahbaz showed what he’s got

The 27-year-old all-rounder proved his worth with the bat this time and played a glorious knock of 45 in 26 balls. His innings included 4 boundaries and 3 sixes and put up a match-winning partnership with Dinesh Karthick.

In the post-match presentation, Faf said: “People think that since he (Shahbaz) is a small skinny guy, he can’t hit it long but he can smash it a long way. We didn’t bowl him today because of the wet ball and left-hander being around but he’ll definitely play a long part in this season.

RCB found a finisher in DK

It’s looking like RCB has got themselves a proper replacement of AB De Villiers in Dinesh Karthick. Dk came in the 13^th over of the game and single-handedly shifted the momentum towards his side. His unbeaten knock of 44 off just 23 balls literally changed the game in favour of RCB. BCCI will definitely have to think about picking DK in the Indian side now as the Men in blues need a finisher like him. In three matches so far he has scored 90 runs at a strike rate of 204.55 and interestingly he is yet to get dismissed.

RCB skipper also hailed his wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik: “To pull it out of nowhere, you need some great characters and DK is as great a character as you can get. His composure under pressure is amazing. He is really calm and such a great asset to us.”