An authoritative Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) shut down Gujarat Titans (GT) by four wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
A third win in a row pushed RCB to seventh on the points table, providing impetus to its playoff hopes.
The home team outplayed GT in all departments. A disciplined bowling performance restricted GT to 147, before a belligerent knock from Faf du Plessis (64, 23b, 10x4, 3x6) left GT with nowhere to hide.
With an eye on improving the net run-rate, du Plessis and opening partner Virat Kohli put on a whopping 92 runs in 5.5 overs. The belligerent start helped RCB reach the target with 6.2 overs to spare.
Kohli (42, 27b, 2x4, 4x6) went past Chennai Super Kings’ Ruturaj Gaikwad to regain his place as the tournament’s highest run-scorer.
A shocking turn of affairs saw RCB fall to 117 for six, but the experienced Dinesh Karthik (21 n.o.) ensured a job well done.
RCB’s memorable night out was set up by a brilliant display with the ball. The fast bowlers - Mohammed Siraj, V. Vyshak, Yash Dayal and Cameron Green - were destructive on a pitch which offered extra carry.
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GT did itself no favours by moving at a snail’s pace with the bat. The perplexing trend was started by openers Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill, who scratched about to get two runs in the first two overs.
The first boundary of the essay came in the fourth over, when an inside edge gave Shahrukh Khan some respite.
GT crawled to 23 for three in six overs - the lowest Powerplay score thus far in IPL 2024. The tedious repair work was left to David Miller and Shahrukh.
IPL 2024 Points Table updated after RCB vs GT match
David Miller received a life on 23, when Karn Sharma dropped a straightforward chance at deep square-leg. It did not prove to be costly, as Karn deceived Miller with a flighted delivery a short while later.
An athletic piece of fielding from Virat Kohli got rid of the dangerous Shahrukh (37). Kohli swooped in, picked up the ball and threw down the stumps at the non-strikers’ end to leave Shahrukh short of the crease.
GT’s hopes of recording a substantial total vanished with Shahrukh’s dismissal.
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