Smith helps Royals to opening IPL victory

Steve Smith has helped Rajasthan Royals to their first win of the IPL season as his side beat Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets.

Smith scored a steady 38 from 31 balls but was unable to see his side over the line after being dismissed in the penultimate over when he was caught at long on by Umesh Yadav trying to hit Mohammed Siraj for the six runs needed to win the game.

The former Test skipper looked furious as he departed the field, but can take solace from chalking up his highest score of the competition so far as he continues his comeback to top level cricket after a 12-month ban.

Rahul Tripathi sealed the victory by clearing the rope with a ball to spare after England's Jos Buttler had laid the foundations with an impressive 59 that included eight fours and a six from 43 deliveries.

Shreyas Gopal was the hero with the ball for Rajasthan, taking 3-12 from his four overs, including the vital wickets of Kohli (23) and AB de Villiers (13).

A fighting 67 from the experienced Parthiv Patel helped Bangalore to a competitive total but it looked at least 15 runs short of a winning score.