IPL 2024: Resurgent RCB flatten Titans

Bengaluru: It took all of eleven games for Royal Challengers Bengaluru to come up with their most clinical performance of this Indian Premier League season.

It might be a bit too late already given their position on the table and what it would take for them to progress to the knockouts, but that will hardly be a thought for this evening for they made the Gujarat Titans look amateur on all counts by posting a four-wicket win.

Faf du Plessis’ bowlers had a plan - bowling it short without much width to cramp the batters - and they executed, for a change. After they restricted the Titans to 147 all out in 20 overs, it was only a matter of how they were going to go about finishing the remainder of the task.

Virat Kohli (42) and du Plessis (64) had no trouble showing up their best since the pitch had by now received a generous dribble of dew. The ball came on about as nicely as it does on a synthetic surface, allowing the openers to plant their left feet forward and hit through the line.

As Kohli and du Plessis worked on who could hit farther, RCB got to 152 for 6 in 13.4 overs after a minor stutter towards the end. But the fact that they scored over half the runs needed to win the game within the power-play period made all the difference.

Virat Kohli at the IPL match of RCBvs Gujarat at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. 

And that, one can safely assume, is where the Titans got it wrong. They scored 23 runs for three wickets in their first six overs, which happened to be the lowest score in the power play this season.

Sure, it was a tough toss to lose, and RCB’s bowlers were unusually disciplined, but the real predicament was the pitch.

It was the most peculiar surface the M Chinnaswamy stadium has seen in a long time for there was a strip of bone-dry pitch on the left and a patchwork of grass on the right (as seen from the pavilion end). Still, had it played even despite the optics, the game would have seen far more runs scored in the first innings.

That, however, was not the case. The ball either gripped or slipped depending on the landing spot and that made stroke play annoying. Besides, RCB’s bowlers had the ball on a string and were being rewarded by the fielders in the outfield.

Kohli, who is surely going to be reprimanded for blowing a kiss to Shahrukh Khan after inflicting an especially remarkable run-out, was getting everyone charged even as they exited the field after the innings.

He brought that same energy with the bat, and it began with one of the finest sixes he has struck all season. After slipping away from an odd run-out possibility off the very first ball, he lined Mohit Sharma up and drove the away-swinger through the line. Only, he got under it so well that the ball cleared 90 metres.

That shot alone was enough to determine the kind of night the Titans were going to have. It only got worse, though, because du Plessis started to bat as if he was up against a sidearm bowler at ‘nets’.

The entire chase was a bizarre experience because it was top-heavy dominance followed by a series of poor dismissals, but they managed to get it done.

That’s all that matters when every win matters.

SCOREBOARD

GUJARAT TITANS: Wriddhiman Saha c Karthik b Siraj 1 (7b), Shubman Gill c Vijaykumar b Siraj 2 (7b), Sai Sudharsan c Kohli b Green 6 (14b), Shahrukh Khan (run out) 37 (24b, 5x4, 1x6), David Miller c Maxwell b Karn 30 (20b, 3x4, 2x6), Rahul Tewatia c Vijaykumar b Dayal 35 (21b, 5x4, 1x6), Rashid Khan b Dayal 18 (14b, 2x4, 1x6), Vijay Shankar c Siraj b Vijaykumar 10 (7b, 2x4), Manav Suthar c Swapnil b Vijaykumar 1 (2b), Mohit Sharma (run out) 0 (1b), Noor Ahmed (not out) 0. Extras (B-2, LB-1, W-4) 7. TOTAL (all out, 19.3 overs) 147.

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Saha), 2-10 (Gill), 3-19 (Sudharsan), 4-80 (Miller), 5-87 (Shahrukh), 6-131 (Rashid), 7-136 (Tewatia), 8-147 (Suthar), 9-147 (Mohit).

Bowling: Swapnil Singh 1-0-1-0, Mohammed Siraj 4-0-29-2 (w-3), Yash Dayal 4-0-21-2, Cameron Green 4-0-28-1, Vyshak Vijaykumar 3.3-0-23-2 (w-1), Karn Sharma 3-0-42-1.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Virat Kohli c Saha b Noor 42 (27b, 2x4, 4x6), Faf du Plessis c Shahrukh b Little 64 (23b, 10x4, 3x6), Will Jacks c Shahrukh 1 (3b), Rajat Patidar c Miller b Little 2 (3b), Glenn Maxwell c Miller b Little 4 (3b, 1x4), Cameron Green c Shahrukh b Little 1 (2b), Dinesh Karthik (not out) 21 (12b, 3x4), Swapnil Singh (not out) 15 (9b, 2x4, 1x6). Extras (LB-1, W-1). TOTAL (for 6 wickets, 13.4 overs) 152.

Fall of wickets: 1-92 (du Plessis), 2-99 (Jacks), 3-103 (Patidar), 4-107 (Maxwell), 5-111 (Green), 6-117 (Kohli).

Bowling: Mohit Sharma 2-0-32-0, Josh Little 4-0-45-4 (w-1), Manav Suthar 2-0-26-0, Noor Ahmed 4-0-23-2.

Result: RCB won by four wickets.

PoM: Mohammed Siraj

RCB’s next match: vs Punjab Kings (Dharamsala, May 9).