Royal Challengers Bengaluru 152 for 6 (du Plessis 64, Kohli 42, Little 4-45) beat Gujarat Titans 147 (Shahrukh 37, Tewatia 35, Dayal 2-21, Vyshak 2-23, Siraj 2-29) by four wickets
Four overs of craziness aside, Royal Challengers Bengaluru played the near-perfect game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to roll Gujarat Titans over for the second time in a week.
Riding on the back of their seam-bowling success and a blistering opening stand between Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, RCB dominated for the first 26 overs of the game. But a middle-order collapse - where GT picked up six wickets for only 25 runs - briefly put them on the back foot. However, Dinesh Karthik (21*) and Swapnil Singh (15*) counterpunched to complete a four-wicket win.
RCB's victory with 38 balls to spare also takes them from tenth to seventh on the points table. They are on eighth points, as are ninth-placed GT, with both sides holding slim chances to make the playoffs.
RCB make use of conditions
Pitch number eight was the same surface on which Sunrisers Hyderabad pumped 287. But Saturday's version of the pitch was different, courtesy the few hours of rain on Friday that made the pitch sweat overnight.
Mohammed Siraj and Yash Dayal utilised that little assistance to move the ball in both directions in the powerplay, and found success with balls from behind a good length. Siraj dismissed Wriddhiman Saha for the fourth time in six innings and then had Shubman Gill playing away from his body for a catch at deep point. Sai Sudharsan also failed to get going, and GT could post only 23 for 3 in the powerplay, their lowest score of all time in that phase.
M Shahrukh Khan, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia then scored in the thirties to keep the GT innings moving. Despite the occasional boundaries, the RCB seamers did not let them get away.
Vijaykumar Vyshak pushed them back with short balls, as did Cameron Green, and helped by an electrifying fielding effort, the bowlers' combined pressure soon brought about a lower-order collapse. GT slid from 131 for 5 to 147 all out, and their innings had two run-outs including a Kohli direct-hit dismissal of Shahrukh.
Du Plessis, Kohli dazzle
After surviving a close run-out chance on the first ball of the chase, Kohli brushed off all jitters by hitting Mohit Sharma for a six over cover and one more over midwicket in the opening over. Du Plessis then took Josh Little for 20 runs in the next over and RCB were off.
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Du Plessis also took on IPL debutant Manav Suthar and Mohit, and the team fifty was brought up in just 3.1 overs. Kohli then pounced on Suthar for consecutive sixes over long-on. The onslaught continued as du Plessis then reached his fifty off 18 balls as RCB went past their previous-best powerplay score of 88. By the time he was dismissed in the sixth over by Little, RCB had already razed 92 off the target.
Karthik, Swapnil douse fire
From then on, however, wickets started to fall. RCB were probably looking to finish the game quickly to give their slim playoff qualification chances an NRR boost, but their batters fell trying to go after GT's bowlers.
Will Jacks fell to Noor Ahmad's spin while Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell and Green were all dismissed by Little's short balls. When Noor's googly had Kohli edging behind for 42 in the 11th over, RCB had stuttered to 117 for 6.
With four overs of Rashid left - he didn't bowl earlier due to a blow to his shoulder while batting - GT searched for a seventh wicket to put in the ultimate squeeze, but Dinesh Karthik did not let the spinner settle by clubbing three fours in his opening over to give the Chinnaswamy crowd their voice again. When Rashid returned for his second over, Swapnil gave him the same treatment, hitting a six over the bowler's head to secure the two points.
