Bengaluru, April 2 (IANS) A lot of talk in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 was around the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium turning out to be a batting paradise yet again. But on Wednesday, it was far from that, and the Gujarat Titans put on a masterclass in seizing control at the right moments to outclass Royal Challengers Bengaluru by eight wickets for their second win of the season.
Electing to bowl first, GT seized control from the word go – ex-RCB lad Mohammed Siraj brought the heat on with his pace and attacked stumps consistently to pick a superb 3-19 in his four overs. The effect of his early burst, later fetching him the Player of the Match Award, was such that RCB were reduced to 42/4, and the packed crowd fell silent.
It took Liam Livingstone’s 40-ball 54, along with Jitesh Sharma and Tim David hitting 33 and 32 to bring the crowd back to life as RCB posted 169/8. But the raucous crowd was silenced again as Jos Buttler used his experience well to assess the conditions well and targeted bowlers astutely to hit five fours and six sixes in his unbeaten 39-ball 72.
The former England captain shared partnerships of 75 and 63 with B. Sai Sudharsan and Sherfane Rutherford, who hit 49 and 30 not out respectively, as GT remained in control all the time to complete their chase with 13 balls to spare.
With grass covering around the good length area on a pitch that wasn’t used for last season, it meant the ball seemed nicely for the GT fast bowlers, who exploited it to great effect by hitting the good and back of the length regions.
Virat Kohli brought out a majestic cover drive off Siraj for four, and was followed by Phil Salt being dropped by Buttler. But Arshad Khan brought the smiles back on the GT camp by cramping Kohli on the pull and having him caught at deep square leg.
Devdutt Padikkal creamed a cover drive off Siraj for a four. But the pacer had the last laugh as he got one to nip in and sneak past Padikkal to hit the top of the off-stump. After Salt survived a run-out chance, he muscled Siraj for a humungous 105m six over mid-wicket roof.
But Siraj again bounced back with a scrambled seam delivery which Salt missed in his bid to charge down the pitch and was left seeing his off-stump being rattled. Rajat Patidar was trapped lbw by a cross-seam delivery from Ishant Sharma, leaving RCB at 42/4 in 6.2 overs.
Jitesh stood up to play a counter-attacking knock by hitting three fours and a six off Ishant, before taking a boundary each off R Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan. Livingstone, on the other hand, hit a four and a six while being dropped by Rahul Tewatia at long-on. But Kishore came back to take out Jitesh and Krunal Pandya in quick succession with variations in pace and angles.
Livingstone and Tim David found their groove by hitting Rashid for a six and four runs respectively. After David muscled Kishore for six, Livingstone smacked Rashid for three sixes, the last of which got him his fifty in 39 balls. However, shortly after reaching his fifty, Livingstone attempted to slash a short and wide ball off Siraj but nicked it behind to Buttler.
David struck Krishna for two fours and sixes in the final over, before the batter’s off-stump was uprooted by a searing yorker from the pacer, as RCB smashed 64 runs in their last five overs. Chasing 170, Sudharsan broke free in the fourth over by scooping and straight-driving Josh Hazlewood for six and four respectively.
Shubman Gill smacked Bhuvneshwar for a six over long-on, but the veteran pacer had the last laugh as the GT skipper looked to hit a maximum again, but the outside edge was caught by a deep third man. After GT ended the power-play at 42/1, Sudharsan and Buttler pulled and glanced off impact player Rasikh Salam for a four each.
Sudharsan then cut Yash Dayal through point for four, while Buttler heaved, pulled, and got a top edge off Salam to collect four and two sixes in an 18-run ninth over. Runs continued to come in heaps as Sudharsan pulled Krunal for four, while Buttler cut Dayal between backward point and short third man for a delightful boundary.
In desperate need of a wicket, RCB brought back Hazlewood, and the pacer delivered by cramping Sudharsan with a short ball and the glove edge was caught by a diving Jitesh. Impact Player Sherfane Rutherford got going by flaying Hazlewood for four, before tonking Krunal over long-on for six.
Buttler shut the door on RCB by lofting over Liam Livingstone’s head for four and ended their hopes to claw back by smacking it over long-on for six to bring up his fifty in 31 balls. From there, Buttler and Rutherford’s consistent hitting of boundaries, including the latter hitting the winning six with a pull off Hazlewood, sealed GT’s second win of the season.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 169/8 in 20 overs (Liam Livingstone 54, Jitesh Sharma 33; Mohammed Siraj 3-19, R Sai Kishore 2-22) lost to Gujarat Titans 170/2 in 17.5 overs (Jos Buttler 73 not out, B. Sai Sudharsan 49, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-23, Josh Hazlewood 1-43) by eight wickets
–IANS
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