Virat Kohli starred with the bat while Glenn Maxwell put on a superb all-round show as the Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Gujarat Titans (GT) by 8 wickets in Match No. 67 of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
Needing 169 runs to win, RCB rode their luck and made the most of it as du Plessis and Kohli kept the scorecard ticking and gave the team a solid start, scoring 55 runs in the powerplay.
While du Plessis stayed put, Kohli was on a roll with the bat as he dealt with pace and spin with equal ease and completed his second fifty of the season in 33 balls.
He and du Plessis continued their solid show with the bat and brought up the hundred-run opening stand in the 12th over.
GT finally managed to break the opening stand as Rashid Khan dismissed the RCB skipper in the 15th over as Hardik Pandya took the catch. GT almost had another wicket in the same over but Glenn Maxwell enjoyed a stroke of luck as the bails, despite being struck by the ball, were not dislodged.
The big-hitting right-hander then creamed two sixes and a four off Hardik in the next over.
Rashid then got Kohli out in the 17th over but not before the stylish right-hander had scored a dazzling 73 off 54 balls in the chase, paving way to RCB’s victory.
Maxwell, though, continued to his merry ways and hammered an unbeaten 40 off 18 balls as RCB registered their eighth win of the season, with 8 balls to spare.
Earlier, GT, who elected to bat, brought in Lockie Ferguson in their Playing XI while and RCB picked Siddarth Kaul in place of Mohammed Siraj.
While Wriddhiman Saha set the ball rolling for GT, hitting two fours and a six in the first over bowled by Kaul, RCB got their first breakthrough as Maxwell grabbed a stunner off Josh Hazlewood in the third over to dismiss Shubman Gill.
Maxwell then struck with the ball, trapping Matthew Wade before the wickets to give RCB their second breakthrough in the powerplay.
GT captain Hardik Pandya and Saha then added 24 runs together. But the partnership was broken as RCB captain Faf du Plessis’ direct-hit sent the GT wicketkeeper-batter packing for 31 in the ninth over.
Hardik then got a reprieve in the next over as substitute fielder Suyash Prabhudessai could not complete the catch near the ropes off Maxwell.
Hardik made the most of that opportunity as he and David Miller joined forces and completed a brisk fifty-run stand, where the southpaw did the majority of the scoring.
GT were 122/3 after 16 overs, with Miller and Hardik in the middle. However, just when it looked that the two would cut loose in the last four overs, RCB struck back with two quick wickets. While Wanindu Hasaranga completed a sharp return catch to get Miller out, Hazlewood dismissed Rahul Tewatia in the 18th over.
Hardik though continued to stay put and brought up his fourth fifty-plus score of the season. On the other end, Rashid Khan, who walked out to bat following Tewatia’s fall, once again played a brilliant cameo, slamming an unbeaten 19 off 6 balls.
While Hardik, who played a captain’s knock, scored 62* off 47 balls, GT posted 168/5 on the board.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 170/2 (Virat Kohli 73, Faf du Plessis 44; Rashid Khan 2/32) beat Gujarat Titans 168/5 (Hardik Pandya 62*, David Miller 34; Josh Hazlewood 2/39) by eight wickets.
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