IPL 2022: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, DY Patil Stadium

A pulled six and then with the field up, an on-drive for four. Dinesh Karthik makes sure RCB make it home but the real hero is Harshal Patel: successive maidens (one that included Andre Russell's wicket) and then making sure the game is done before Russell the bowler comes back.

It was the first over he bowled on the night, and for a majority of the over, Venkatesh Iyer did the job with his cutters. But Harshal Patel connected with two swings, which made it 10 runs for the over. And now Russell, who doesn't look a 100% fit, will bowl the 20th with 6 runs to defend.

Southee has delivered a superb 18th over with the wickets of Sherfaine Rutherford and Wanindu Hasaranga, leaving RCB 17 to get in the last two overs. However, at No. 9 comes out Harshal Patel.

And we have Venkatesh Iyer bowling the 19th. So who bowls the 20th? Russell?

That means Russell can't bowl two. So who bowls the 20th if needed? Venkatesh Iyer?

And there might be a 20th as Sherfaine Ritherford falls to a sensational low catch to Sheldon Jackson's right for 28 off 40, the second-slowest innings of 40 balls or more in the IPL.

They take zero risk in the 17th over, bowled by Sunil Narine, and are happy to take just the four singles. That leaves them 24 to get in the last three. Tim Southee has one left, and Andre Russell two. Russell hasn't had a great night: 2-0-26-0 so far.

By holding Dinesh Karthik back, RCB have not only kept an ideal entry point but also delayed the reintroduction of Sunil Narine. In the meantime, Shahbaz Ahmed has given them 27 off 19 balls. Now they need 28 off the last four.

By promoting David Willey and then Shahbaz Ahmed, RCB have made sure they have a fallback option in the end: Dinesh Karthik. And here's probably why: when he has come to bat after the 14th overs in the last three IPLs, he has averaged 37 and struck at 1574; those numbers are 17.6 and 125 for earlier entry points.

Early days, but this has been the best IPL season for fast bowlers in the powerplay by both average and economy rate. They are paying 24 runs for each wicket so far, and going for 6.75 an over.

Pace, bounce, and movement. In two balls, KKR have got the wickets of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli. Tim Southee with an outswinger to du Plessis that takes a leading edge to point, and Umesh Yadav with a length ball that kicks off and nips away to take Kohli's edge. RCB 17 for 3 in 2.1 overs. David WIlley, promoted to No. 4, yet to face.

Pace, bounce from short of a length, and movement away from the left-hand batter. And they are not going to leave alone many in T20s. Umesh Yadav has Anuj Rawat edging through.

Virat Kohli, though, has started off with a punched boundary through covers and a clip through wide mid-on for another.

A useful partnership between Umesh Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy - 27 off 26 balls, the fourth-highest for the tenth wicket in IPL history. A couple of lucky edges, a couple of uncharacteristic misfields from Wanindu Hasaranga, and one muscular six for Umesh off an Akash Deep full-toss in the 19th over.

Akash ends the innings in the same over, bowling Umesh with a full one at the stumps. KKR are 128 all out, leaving seven balls unused.

Two ways of looking at KKR persisting with all-out attack when they were in danger of being bowled out, rather than going into rebuild mode at some point. One, it was a little silly, and doomed to fail. Two, they didn't want to end up with a middling total that they thought would anyway get chased down given the dew, and that teams that play with this sort of intent always expect the odd bad day like this one.

Some excellent bowling from RCB, it must be said. Their use of the short ball was particularly noteworthy, and Wanindu Hasaranga gets early-season rights to wear the Purple Cap, his four wickets taking him to five for the season so far.

Hasaranga has his fourth wicket, and KKR are 101 for 9 in 14.3 overs.

Harshal has dismissed Andre Russell, and it's extra bounce that does the trick. It's short and rising steeply outside off stump, and Russell's attempted slap through the off side is top-edged to the keeper. He's gone for 25 off 18, and KKR are 99 for 8 in 13.5 overs.

That was, incidentally, the fifth straight short ball of the over from Harshal, and it feels like there's some variable bounce when you hit that area. The first four were all dots, and Russell fell in an attempt to break the deadlock. Harshal hasn't given away a run in his first two overs.

At the crease now are two fast bowlers known for their six-hitting in Test cricket, in Tim Southee and Umesh Yadav. What can they do in this format and situation, though?

At the start of the 13th over, RCB had one over each of Siraj, Akash and Hasaranga to go, and two of David Willey, with Harshal, who had only bowled one, on from the other end. They didn't necessarily have to use Shahbaz Ahmed's left-arm spin, but Faf du Plessis chanced one over of him against Russell. The field was set to bowl quick and wide of off stump, with deep point and deep cover in place, but there were two errors in execution, and Russell hits both for six. KKR end the over at 99 for 7.

Harshal Patel is introduced in the 12th over, and he strikes with his fourth ball. The bounce on this pitch makes a certain length quite hard to hit - the kind of length where you're neither hitting down the ground with a straight bat or hitting over the leg side with a horizontal bat. Harshal's slower offcutter kicks up at him, cramping Sam Billings for room, and his attempt at a diagonal-bat hit over the top descends gently into long-on's hands.

KKR are 83 for 7 in 11.4.

Up against Hasaranga for the first time, he plays out four dots. Then the leggie risks throwing one up with more air, and Russell sinks onto his back knee and hoists the ball high over wide long-on for six.

You would expect just that, of course. Have a look at this stat.

Sheldon Jackson comes in at No. 7, and Hasaranga does him first ball with a terrific wrong'un. It's tossed up with a lot of overspin, inviting the cover drive, and Jackson takes it on. I don't think he was deceived by the wrong'un necessarily, but the amount of overspin on the ball caused it to dip, open up a gap between bat and body, and the ball turned past the inside edge and did the rest. KKR are 67 for 6 now, in nine overs.

KKR keep throwing their punches. Sam Billings picks up a reverse-swept two, and then charges out at Wanindu Hasaranga, meets the ball on the full, and wallops it over midwicket for six. Then he takes a single to bring Sunil Narine on strike.

He immediately looks to clear his front leg and hit one over long-on, but this ball, pitching just back of a length, doesn't turn into him - it's either a slider or a wrong'un that doesn't turn a lot - and he ends up slicing the ball in the air and into backward point's hands.

KKR are 67 for 5 in 8.5 overs. A strategic time-out ensues; will it bring about a change in strategy?

Sunil Narine was sent out with a specific job to do, and the job description hasn't changed even though KKR are four down in the eighth over. Akash Deep gets another over, presumably to use his short ball against Narine, who doesn't have a great record against the fast short ball. He starts with a length ball that Narine hits cleanly over mid-off, his favourite scoring region. Then he bowls a sharp bouncer and Narine takes on the pull, top-edging it over the keeper and all the way for six.

A very KKR approach from KKR here. It could produce a recovery, or they could end up bowled out cheaply, but they know the risks involved, and they know what they're after in a tournament where dew has made chasing a massive advantage.

KKR are 58 for 4 in eight overs.

You win some, you lose some. Some teams might have played out 2-3 careful overs after losing three wickets in the powerplay, but KKR's batters seem keen to take on their favourable match-ups. Iyer likes hitting over the top against spin, but he fails to clear long-on against Wanindu Hasaranga.

KKR are 46 for 4 in 6.4 overs.

Akash Deep is quick, and there's good purchase for his short ball on this zippy DY Patil Stadium pitch. It's the kind of pitch that will punish any errors in line and length because there's pace onto the bat, but also reward good balls. Two boundaries in the sixth over to Nitish Rana when Akash doesn't quite nail his execution of the bouncer and the wide yorker, and then Akash bowls a similar bouncer to the one that got Venkatesh, angling across the left-hander and finishing around the back shoulder. Rana can't control the pull, and he departs for 10 off 5 balls. KKR end the powerplay at 44 for 3.

Interesting move from KKR after that wicket. They've promoted Sunil Narine, with the spinners expected to come on.

It's 32 for 2 in five overs, after Siraj digs one in at Rahane's body. He times the pull pretty well, but he doesn't keep it down, and he picks out the man at deep square leg.

Siraj could have had Shreyas Iyer earlier in the over, but he put down a sharp return chance. Iyer premeditated for a short ball by going deep in his crease and opening up at the hips, but the ball wasn't short, it cramped him for room, and he ended up flat-batting the attempted pull straight back at the bowler, who couldn't hold on to the low chance in his follow-through.

The Siraj-Venkatesh duel only lasts one over, with RCB bringing Akash Deep on from that end in the fourth over. And he strikes first ball with a well-directed short ball. It's angling across Venkatesh from over the wicket, and it stops on him and cramps him at around chest height.

Venkatesh doesn't move his feet at all, and he ends up playing an indecisive half-pull, half-flick while failing to get on top of the bounce. The ball pops up into the on side, into the unmanned short midwicket region, and Akash sprints to his left to complete the return catch.

KKR 14 for 1 in 3.2 overs. Shreyas Iyer replaces Venkatesh at the crease, so it's two RHBs in the middle.

Mohammed Siraj is a terrific user of the angle across the left-hander. Venkatesh Iyer loves freeing his arms and hitting square on the off side. The ingredients are in place for an engrossing battle, and the second over of the match brings us that. Venkatesh gains the early upper hand with a slap to the right of backward point, and then Faf du Plessis changes the field, to allow Siraj to keep at that angle and try and bring the edge into play.

There's a slip and a short, catching mid-off next to the pitch, and deep point pushed back for protection. What follows is Siraj almost getting Venkatesh to chop on with one that straightens, and then beating his outside edge with one that goes the other way. Venkatesh survives, however, and KKR are 10 for 0 in two overs.

The expression on Faf du Plessis' face when the coin landed in his favour said it all. RCB choose to bowl, as you'd expect. They are unchanged.

"I would have loved to bowl as well," Shreyas Iyer says. He expects dew to play a significant role as the match goes on. Four overseas players for KKR this time, with Tim Southee replacing Shivam Mavi. "It was a management decision; let's go with experience," Shreyas says.

KKR will hope Southee, who missed their first match to attend his wedding, will get a bit of assistance with the new ball later on, and that his greater experience will help him deal with the dew.

The first major challenge for KKR, though, will be one of intent: how quickly will Venkatesh Iyer and, especially, Ajinkya Rahane, get off the blocks? They made a good start against CSK, but it was in a fairly small chase.

RCB: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Anuj Rawat, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Harshal Patel, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 David Willey, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Akash Deep.

KKR: 1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sheldon Jackson (wk), 6 Sam Billings, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.