Cricket News: Faf du Plessis, the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, praised Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed. When Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed joined hands in the middle, RCB were 87 for 5 in 12.3 overs, requiring 83 runs off just 45 balls at roughly 12 runs per over. After that, the experienced Karthik and the young Shahbaz put on a show of strokeplay to enable RCB to reach the 170-run goal in 19.1 overs, defeating the Rajasthan Royals by four wickets in an IPL 2022 encounter at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
To pull off the chase, Du Plessis stated: “strong characters” were required, and Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz were outstanding.
“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. We bowled really well, up to the 18th over and then Jos got some good shots. Got a score that we thought was a bit above-par with the conditions and the surface spinning a bit. We started quite well though, but then Yuzi (Chahal) bowled really well to get them back in,” du Plessis said in the post-match presentation.
Karthik, who has played a key part in all of RCB’s triumphs in IPL 2022, was unbeaten on 44 off 23 balls, while Shahbaz hit 45 off 26 balls.
The former South African captain, pointing to all-rounder Shahbaz’s thin stature, claimed the left-hander “can smash it a long way.”
“But for me, the great thing about today once again was our ability to come back to win games out of nowhere. 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,” he added.
On Tuesday, Shahbaz blasted three sixes, the most by an RCB player in the match.
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