Live Report: IPL 2022 - Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, Wankhede Stadium

Boult has Shahbaz deflecting a scoop back onto his own stumps for 45 off 26 balls in the 18th over, but Karthik and Harshal usher RCB home with five balls and four wickets to spare. This is Royals' first loss of the season

In the next over, bowled by Saini, Karthik takes him for back-to-back boundaries, including an eye-catching lap-swept four. Shahbaz Ahmed, too joins the party, putting Krishna over long leg as RCB move to 138 for 5 in 16 overs. They now need only 32 off 24 balls. Their win probability is up to nearly 85

...as RCB slump further to 87 for 5 in the 13th over. They now need 83 off 44 balls. Boult bangs it into the body of Rutherford who gets into a tangle and top-edges the pull. Saini circles around from short third man and completes a tumbling catch to pile up pressure and misery on his former franchise

Navdeep Saini, another former RCB player, also strikes in his first over for Royals. He takes pace off and snags the outside edge. He bowls a cutter into the pitch, which grips and bounces at Rawat who can't quite control the dab to third man. Instead, he guides it straight into the gloves of Samson for 26. Royals are well and truly back in the contest. Soon after, Kohli is run-out for 5 off 6 balls. A ball later, Chahal bursts through the defences of Willey with a delightful legbreak. From 55 for 0, RCB fall to 62 for 4; their win probability has nosedived to 21.25%

One of the most intriguing subplots in this clash was Chahal vs his former franchise RCB. The legspinner watched du Plessis pump him down the ground for four when he pitched one in his slot. Four balls later, he darts one into du Plessis who had backed away to manufacture some swinging room. Chahal, though, cramps him and has him miscuing a catch to long-on.

This is an atypical Wankhede track where balls are holding up and stopping at batters. Pace isn't your friend on this pitch. Faf du Plessis gets going by hitting Boult's on-pace balls outside off through the line for a pair of boundaries. Anuj Rawat, the other opener, is more adventurous, jumping out of the crease and hitting over the top, using the extra pace of Prasidh Krishna to his advantage. Ashwin fares better than the seamers in the powerplay, giving up 13 runs in his two overs. RCB, however, have maximised the powerplay, reaching 48 for 0. RCB's win probability is up to 56.31%

Shiva Jayaraman digs deep: Akash Deep was unlucky to have Jos Buttler dropped off his bowling on the fourth ball of his second over. What followed is something that’s seen very commonly in cricket these days: the next ball from the bowler is duly dispatched for a boundary by the batter. At least on evidence of watching on cricket, this seems to happen more often than not. Is this pattern backed by numbers? Is a boundary the likely outcome in the next ball after a drop?

We look at IPL data since 2018 to see if numbers back this theory. ESPNcricinfo has recorded 289 drops when the reprieved batter has faced up to the same bowler on the next ball. Sixty-four of these balls have resulted in boundaries – one in every 4.5 balls. In comparison, in the same period a boundary has been scored every 5.8 balls in the IPL. So prima facie, looks like balls immediately after a drop (when the batter and bowler are the same) are more likely to be hit for a boundary than an average delivery.

Now, one could argue a larger share of catches are dropped when the batter is going after the bowler, so the frequency of boundary hitting will be more during such overs (the last-four overs, for example). For the sake of putting this theory to a more rigorous test, we look at the death overs in the IPL since 2018. In these overs, a boundary is hit every 4.6 deliveries, which is still marginally less frequent than the deliveries after the drops (remember the drops on the other hand, are spread throughout the innings, and not just in the death overs). So the numbers from this limited data do seem to indicate deliveries after dropped chances are more likely to be hit for a boundary by batters when compared with an average ball.

Let's take a moment for Akash Deep. He's still new to the IPL, and bowling the 20th over to Buttler and Hetmyer can go haywire. The over started well, with two balls they couldn't put away, but the second one was called a no-ball, even though the jury is out on that close call. The free-hit went for six, then came another, and Hetmyer called the innings with another monster.

It could've been a very different day for Akash Deep, who finished with 0 for 44. He created two chances to dismiss Buttler in his first spell, but both were put down. He let one go through (a tough chance) and Willey slipped up in the deep. Then that ghost no-ball, the free-hit and a poor end to his spell.

Both Buttler and Hetmyer finish their batting day with asterisks. Buttler 70* (in 47), Hetmyer 42* (in 31) and 170 a par total under normal conditions, but today's pitch has shown that batting is tricky.

Buttler eventually made RCB pay for those dropped chances. He capitalised at the back end, hitting 27 runs in his last seven deliveries. Momentum with the Royals even though it is a par score, but they do have an enviable bowling line up. Boult and Prasidh up top, Chahal (against RCB!) and Ashwin to follow. With Navdeep Saini to give support.

This should be a very watchable chase.

Jos Buttler: "Soft surface, the seam was sticking into the wicket (the pitch) at the start. Slower balls and googlies were tricky. Whether that changes with the dew - don't know. Important, frustrating at times. Felt needed to get the score moving, but sometimes it is abouting sticking in and getting them later. We are in the game, a lot will depend on the conditions."

Siraj bowls the 19th, and it's time to really get to fifth gear. Hetmyer finds a slightly luck four after du Plessis fails to hold a catch and then Buttler pumps back to back sixes to end the over. With 12 in 2, Buttler reaches his fifty (55* off 42). Nineteen off the over, 146 on the board.

Hetmyer (28 in 25) has been the aggressor, hitting Siraj for a six and Harshal (1-18 in 4) while Buttler is just not middling it, `now at 43 in 40, with two overs left. The bowlers have otherwise kept it out of their arc for the most part, and the full tosses weren't put away by Buttler. The ESPNcricinfo forecaster had them hovering at around the 150 mark all evening.

Buttler has faced only 37.5% of the balls all innings as we reach the 16th over. He's been at the non-striker's end for most of this 21-ball partnership with Hetmyer batting 17 balls. He's on 40 in 37 balls, with no real rhythm. On 39 in 36 balls with four overs to go. Interestingly Harshal Patel bowled a third over before the death overs, meaning he has one left. Siraj starts proceedings for the final four with the score at 107 for 3 and 24 balls left.

Hasaranga finished his spell too, 1-32, but he bowled better than what an economy of 8 may suggest. He got the googlies to stay low on these decks and always kept the pads and stumps in play.

How do Hetmyer and Buttler approach this stage?

Magical from Wanindu Hasaranga, picking off the dangerous Sanju Samson in his second over. He bowled it full on middle up front in the over, and Samson went to the leg side and smacked him over his head for six. Then Hasaranga changed his length, got one to skid through and nearly had Samson lbw. After that, Hasaranga got another length ball to skid through, and Samson is surprised a bit, meeting the ball with hard hands as he tries to defend. Ball hits the bat, pings right off it, lobs up in the air, and Hasaranga wouldn't have taken an easier c-and-bowled in his life. Concedes just six off the over, including one wicket, and Royals have lost two quick wickets. Here's Hetmyer now at 86 for 3 after 12 overs, and Buttler's still only on 33 (in 27 balls).

Harshal Patel bowls the tenth over, and he starts off with his patent change ups that leave batters checking their shots. The last ball, though, Harshal goes for a full slower ball from around the stumps, and Padikkal tries to hit him over long off. Sliced in the air, and Kohli takes a tumbling catch with an aussie-style reverse cup from near his face. Padikkal is walking out for 37 off 29 balls, but then the umpires say they want to check if Kohli's catch was clean. Samson is told to wait too. Eventually, the TV umpire said Kohli had his fingers under the ball as he came down, and Padikkal is finally asked to exit stage right. 76 for 2 after 10 overs

A new milestone for Buttler - hits his 100th IPL six off Wanindu Hasaranga. The Sri Lankan bowled length balls and the batters kept ticking him around for his first over, but Buttler climbed into him, smacking him over long on, as soon as he gave the ball a bit of air. The time out is taken, and Harshal Patel is coming on with the partnership between these two 50+ already.

With Samson and co still in the hut, very soon you'll see both Padikkal and Buttler going hell for leather.

After bowling a nagging first over that did enough to keep Padikkal and Buttler quiet, Akash Deep starts off the post-powerplay period, bowling the seventh. Nearly had Buttler caught-and-bowled after he struck a length ball back, but the ball burst through the bowler on his followthrough. Buttler then tried to hoick Akash over long on, but skyed it instead. Willey tried to get under it at deep midwicket but made a mess of it with the ball swirling on its way down.

After those two near misses, Buttler smacks Akash for a six and after 7 overs, Royals are 47 for 1. Interestingly, Willey continues to bowl, his fourth over.

It's 25 for 1 after four overs, and Padikkal has begun in a positive manner. Siraj was pulled for a six, the sound off the bat is sweet, and pierced a gap through third man off Willey too. Buttler still tentative. Akash Deep, the right-arm seamer, is in for over no. 5.

But when do RCB use Wanindu Hasaranga? Historically, Buttler struggles against him (strike-rate of 48 in 23 balls) but Royals have not lost a wicket to spin in IPL 2022 so far! Not only that, but they enjoy an economy of 13.40 against spin this season. Even though Royals haven't had a blazing start, RCB will know that a slow-starting Buttler can make up in no time once he is set (which he probably is by now). On commentary, Sunil Gavaskar was saying that this particular pitch can offer turn to wristspinners right away.

Jaiswal out for 4 in the second over trying to push at a David Willey delivery that's new enough to still show movement. Fullish ball and Jaiswal made the error of leaving a bit of gap between pad and bat. The ball zips through it, and the stumps are smashed. Willey teased him with three previous balls that moved in both directions - either in the air or off the pitch - and the fourth one did him in. 6 for 1 after 2 overs.

The first over was bowled by Siraj, as expected, and even though he conceded just 2, Buttler (and Jaiswal) did not look uncomfortable despite the ball swinging. But Devdutt Padikkal, another left-hander, is in at No. 3, and he does enjoy batting in the powerplay overs. Against his former team. This could be fun.

Let's jump into the action, then. Jos Buttler has a strike-rate of 85 facing Mohammed Siraj, scoring 11 runs in 13 balls and has been dismissed once. Buttler comes into today's game with a century over the weekend, but RCB is his bogey team. Averages 24.8 against them, his lowest among all IPL sides. He also struggles against Wanindu Hasaranga, so will we see the Sri Lankan used early? Royals would probably like more from Yashasvi Jaiswal to keep RCB under the pump from both ends.

... and bowl first. "Dew effect", says Faf du Plessis. "Was pleasing that we hung in in the last game. It was a little bit of pressure and getting across the line gives you confidence. Same XI." Maxwell available from their next contest.

"We should not mind batting first", Sanju Samson says. "Completely different surface from our last two games. Knowing the Wankhede, it should be high scoring. Happy with the standards we have set with bowling and batting. Senior Indians are doing well and the team is benefitting. Need to win the small battles. Same XI too."

It was "win toss, bowl first" all through the first week of the IPL, but recently its the team batting first that's been winning. Both Saturday contests. The Sunday PBKS v CSK game. And yesterday's LSG v SRH contest as well. Rajasthan Royals' two wins have been while batting first too.

Toss in 2 minutes.

Here's an interesting trivia as we build up to the toss. The last two times RCB played Royals in the IPL, the two player of the matches were Devdutt Padikkal and Yuzvendra Chahal. Neither were retained by RCB, and Chahal didn't even receive a bid from his former team in the latest auction. RCB did bid for Padikkal till INR 4.4 crore, but bailed out as his price ballooned to an eventual 7.75 crore.