Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 30 (ANI): David Miller and Rahul Tewatia’s unbeaten quickfire knocks of 39 and 43 respectively helped Gujarat Titans beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets to register their eighth win in nine matches here at the Brabourne Stadium on Saturday.
Chasing a challenging 171-run target Gujarat Titans got off to a decent as openers Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha batted sensibly as they put on 46 runs in the first six overs of powerplay. The duo took the team’s total beyond the 50-run mark in 6.5 overs.
The 51-run partnership was broken by Wanindu Hasaranga as he dismissed Saha for 29 off 22 balls. In the next over left-arm spinner, Shahbaz Ahmed gave RCB another breakthrough by dismissing Gill leg-before wicket for 31 off 28 balls to leave Gujarat in a spot of bother at 68/2.
Shahbaz Ahmed struck again in his next over getting the prized scalp of Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya for 3 to leave them tottering at 78/3.
Hasaranga got his second wicket dismissing Sai Sudharsan for 20 as Gujarat lost their fourth wicket for 95. David Miller and Rahul Tewatia then struck a much-needed partnership to take his team beyond the triple-figure mark in 13.3 overs.
With 58 runs needed in the last five overs both the southpaws, Tewatia and Miller batted aggressively to take the attack to the opposition. Tewatia-Miller pair notched up a 50-run partnership in just 29 balls.
By the end of 18 overs, Gujarat had put on 150 runs for the side needing 19 runs in two overs. Gujarat team chased down the target in 19.3 overs as David Miller and Rahul Tewatia remained unbeaten on 39 and 43 respectively to guide their team to a six-wicket win their eighth win of the season.
Earlier in the day choosing to bat first, RCB enjoyed a decent start as their total read 43 with the loss of one wicket after the first six overs in the innings. Virat Kohli smashed two back-to-back boundaries off Mohammed Shami in the first over to kick start things for his team.
In the second over, Pradeep Sangwan removed RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis for a four-ball duck. The ball nipped outside as Faf Du Plessis attempted a push. The outside edge from the bat then carried the ball to the wicket-keeper.
Rajat Patidar then joined Kohli on the crease and the duo started clocking runs for RCB in the middle overs. At the halfway mark in the innings, RCB’s score read 75/1. The duo started shifting the gears as they gathered 36 runs in total in the 9th, 10th and 11th over combined. The partnership reached the 50-run mark in the 11th over.
In the 13th over, Kohli reached fifty runs after 14 IPL matches. The stylish right-hand batter got to his first fifty of IPL 2022 in 45 balls. In the very next over, Rajat Patidar also brought up his half-century.
Patidar wasn’t able to last long after his fifty as Pradeep Sangwan got better of RCB batter in the 15th over. The new batter on the crease Glenn Maxwell smashed a six before Shami sent Kohli back in the hut in the 17th over.
The wickets kept falling for RCB in the death overs as Dinesh Karthik and Glenn Maxwell were next to go in the 18th and 19th over respectively. The Aussie all-rounder Maxwell played a quick cameo of 33.
The last over yielded 15 runs for RCB. Alzarri Joseph removed Mahipal Lomror on the last ball of the innings as RCB finished 170/6.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 170/6 (Virat Kohli 58, Rajat Patidar 52; Pradeep Sangwan 2-19) vs Gujarat Titans 174/4 in 19.3 overs (Rahul Tewatia 43*, David Miller 39*; Shahbaz Ahmed 2/26, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/28). (ANI)