The Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans sealed their spot in the final four, with a top two spot all but confirmed. The loss puts Royal Challengers Bangalore in somewhat of a pickle, with the Bangalore franchise in the middle of nowhere. This defeat further compounded their existing struggles with respect to their net run rate, which was left languishing after their heavy defeats against Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad previously.
It was once again a batting failure for the Royal Challengers. The finish did not go as per plan, as Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar’s fantastic platform was left unused, with Bangalore finishing on 170 after their 20 overs.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and chose to bat first against the table toppers. Kohli scored some early boundaries, while Pradeep Sangwan, who was replacing Yash Dayal for the Titans, managed to dismiss Faf for a four-ball duck, immediately putting the pressure on RCB.
However, Rajat Patidar and Virat played fine innings as they saved the innings from an early collapse, with both batsmen in fabulous form. Kohli seemingly snapped out of the rut he was in lately. He played a fluent innings with no drama in between. Patidar fulfilled his role to perfection, targeting the bowlers tremendously and taking a liking to the wily Rashid Khan. Patidar also raced to a brilliantly made 29-ball half-century. Kohli also got to his fifty and presented a relieved look on his face, quite understandably so.
He shortly lost his partner Patidar who was looking to accelerate, which brought Glenn Maxwell into the middle. The Gujarat bowlers did an excellent job of containing the RCB batsmen towards the end of the innings, getting rid of both Kohli and Dinesh Karthik.
Maxwell did strike some sixes but wasn’t able to carry on for much longer, as the GT bowlers executed their death overs strategy well. Mahipal Lomror was also able to get a few boundaries towards the end, and RCB finished on 170/6.
A target of 171 was definitely subpar on the Brabourne Stadium pitch. Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill survived the powerplay overs, with the former taking up the role of the aggressor. Gill had another slow start, playing a circumspect innings as both openers were dismissed in the space of eight balls.
Hardik Pandya also departed shortly after because of the spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Shahbaz Ahmed, who bowled a tight few overs in the middle. At this point, it started to look like the Gujarat innings would disintegrate, but Sai Sudharsan did a wonderful job of sticking in the middle as David Miller got set. Sudharsan was also dismissed for 20, but not before he had done his job.
Harshal Patel was fantastic, with the batsmen finding his change of pace deliveries challenging to score off. However, he did not get much support from his fellow pacers. Both Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood went for a few towards the end.
With 36 needed off the last three overs, the Australian was taken for a maximum and two boundaries to simplify the chase for Gujarat. Nevertheless, it was a six off the last ball of the penultimate over that changed the tide, leaving the in-form Titans with seven runs to win off the last over.
The win confirmed a spot in the playoffs for GT in their inaugural season, while RCB’s qualification hopes were further complicated. That said, du Plessis’ side will be happy with the fact that Kohli is back amongst the runs but will have to cover lost ground if they are to qualify for the playoff spots.
Brief scores
Gujarat Titans 174 for 4 (Tewatia 43*, Miller 39*, Shahbaz 2-26, Hasaranga 2-28) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 170 for 6 (Kohli 58, Patidar 52, Sangwan 2-19) by six wickets
