Dinesh Karthik gave a very timely reminder of why he is 'not done yet' with a splendid performance as he and Shahbaz Ahmed joined forces to help Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Rajasthan Royals in an exciting showdown at the Wankhede Stadium on April 5, Tuesday. Karthik came it to bat at a time when RCB were in deep waters but he and Ahmed played fearless cricket to help their side win with five balls left and clinch their second consecutive victory. After two wins, this was Rajasthan Royals' first loss in IPL 2022. RCB Funny Memes Go Viral After Royal Challengers Bangalore Beat Rajasthan Royals by Four Wickets in IPL 2022

Rajasthan Royals batted first and set a 170-run total for RCB to chase down. The chase did start off decently and RCB looked to be in control until the ninth over arrived, which was bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal. There was much talk about how he would perform against his former side and he delivered big time, first dismissing former skipper Virat Kohli with an exceptional sense of agility combined with Sanju Samson. When the whole RCB camp was stunned, he got one to get through David Willey's defense to pull off a sensational over. But well, the game was not done well. Sherfane Rutherford's wicket in the 13th over brought out Dinesh Karthik and from then on, the grip of the game slowly started shifting towards RCB.

The veteran batter hit the big shots right from the start and he was ably supported by Ahmed at the other end, with the youngster making a name for himself in a stage as the IPL. He 45 off just 26 balls with three sixes and four fours and by the time he was dismissed, RCB were in touching distance of the win. Karthik finished with 44* off 23 and calmly stated in the post-match presentation that he is 'not done yet'.

 

Earlier, RCB bowled well but some meaty blows from Jos Buttler (70*) and Shimron Hetmyer (42*) helped Rajasthan get to 169/3 after a slow start on a difficult batting track. Buttler was dropped twice in the seventh over and he surely made use of the reprieve.

Here are some stat highlights of the game.

#This was RCB's 100th win in IPL. They became the fourth team to win 100 IPL matches.

# Jos Buttler completed 100 sixes in IPL

#Devdutt Padikkal completed 25 sixes in IPL

#Wanindu Hasaranga continued his good form against Sanju Samson by beating him. Hasaranga now has dismissed Samson four times in five innings.

#Jos Buttler scored his 12th fifty in IPL

#This was also RCB's 5th consecutive win against Rajasthan Royals in IPL.

Royal Challengers Bangalore now would turn their attention to Mumbai Indians on April 9. Rajasthan Royals meanwhile, will aim to bounce back when they face Lucknow Super Giants on April 10.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 06, 2022 12:36 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).