Gujarat Titans Eliminate RCB in IPL Playoff Race
Seven more sixes were hit in Gill’s unbroken 104 than in Kohli’s 101-run innings.
Gujarat Titans defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore 197 for 5 (Kohli 101*, Noor 2-39) by six wickets with a total of 198 for 4 (Gill 104*, Shankar 53, Siraj 2-23)
Virat Kohli scored his second hundred in as many games. Shubman Gill shattered millions of hearts by answering with a double of his own as Gujarat Titans chased down 198 to eliminate Royal Challengers Bangalore and advance Mumbai Indians to the playoffs.
In the broader context of the Indian batting kingdom, it was difficult to avoid seeing this as a symbolic handing-off of the baton. Gill needed eight fewer balls than Kohli and blasted seven more sixes to reach the century, but Kohli’s situation differed. Falling wickets surrounded him, but Vijay Shankar, Gill’s partner in the 123-run second-wicket partnership, had far more luck than the RCB hitters. The Titans scored 45 runs in false answers, the most of any IPL inning.
The ink lads begin.
Thunderstorms and sporadic precipitation made for a long and painful night for the Bengaluru prospects, who were on the verge of losing overs as the match began. RCB was then placed in after losing the toss. With a 67-run partnership, Kohli and Faf du Plessis brightened their evening by extending their initial dominance. Even Mohammed Shami was taken for runs, preventing him from getting a powerplay wicket. The first task was finished.
The Titans control the middle overs.
The first wicket involved a little bit of luck. Noor Ahmad dived on du Plessis skillfully, but the broad outside edge would only be captured under highly unusual conditions. It took place as the ball bounced off Wriddhiman Saha’s pad for an easy catch at slip. Despite that slow start, the Titans had the title in place.
The partnership ended with a season total of 939 runs, which is poignant for RCB supporters because that total matches what Kohli and AB de Villiers achieved together in 2016.
Rashid Khan took The purple cap away from Shami, who broke through the opening by bowling Glenn Maxwell with a wrong’un. Shami returned to terminate Michael Bracewell’s cameo and restore the purple crown. Saha had the exceptional technique to stump Mahipal Lomror down the leg side between the two wickets. RCB were 133 for 5 in 14.2 overs when Yash Dayal celebrated his comeback with a golden duck for Dinesh Karthik—his 17th duck overall in the IPL, a record. They were in trouble at that point because they lacked powerful hitters down the order.
Kohli oversees the two.
In the IPL, Kohli has batted with far less risk to his wicket, and his natural style of play has supported this. He continued doing the same thing, but the lack of lower-order hits caused problems. Here, Virat went from 36 off 22 in the first six to 16 off 14 in the next six, but when it comes to the death overs, Kohli is a different story. He was probably obliged to play Rashid out in the 17th over due to the loss of five wickets, but he played up to his reputation as one of the finest at the end by reaching his second 50 in just 25 balls.
Gill’s retort
Shikhar Dhawan and Alistair Gill contributed one of Kohli’s two hundred in his most recent inning. But in this case, he was determined not to lose out on the slim margins outside Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Saha and Shankar struggled because the new ball held in the surface, while Gill appeared to be batting in another reality. The sluggish start of 25 for 1 in three overs quickly started to look cheerful as short-arm punches flew for sixes, and the coverage gap appeared more significant than it was.
Gill only appeared to be struggling when Shankar was 21 of 20. Himanshu Sharma, a legspinner, was run at; he was defeated in the air but managed to get an outside edge for four. He immediately made a clean six after that and never looked back.
Shankar had far more luck than Gill and managed to be around long enough for particular hits to be successful. Even though Kohli virtually never mishit a ball, Shankar reached his fifty faster than Kohli in the brutal but genuine nature of Twenty20.
When the asking rate exceeded 11, RCB offered the offspring of Bracewell to the two right-handed hitters, whom Gill hit for two sixes. After Shankar was injured, the Titans continued to elevate batters besides Hardik Pandya. Even though he only faced 12 balls in the final six overs, Gill was unstoppable at the other end as they battled, and two were bowled out. He scored 33 points in them to help the Titans win with five balls remaining.
Experience the power of Gill’s consecutive IPL centuries and the intense battle between Gujarat Titans and RCB. Dive into the rajabets for all the action.
