Gujarat Titans (GT) handed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) their first defeat of the season with a commanding 8-wicket victory in Bengaluru. Chasing a target of 170 runs, Gujarat achieved the target in 17.5 overs, losing only two wickets.
Batting first, RCB posted 169 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Livingstone led the scoreboard with a half-century (54), while Jitesh Sharma contributed a valuable 33 runs. However, the top order failed to deliver, with Padikkal (04), Kohli (07), Rajat Patidar (12), and Phil Salt (14) falling cheaply. Tim David’s late contribution of 32 runs added some respectability to the total.
GT’s bowling attack was spearheaded by Mohammed Siraj, who claimed 3 wickets for just 19 runs in his 4 overs, earning him the ‘Player of the Match’ award. Sai Kishore took 2 wickets, while Ishant Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, and Arshad claimed one wicket each.
In response, Gujarat’s chase was anchored by Sai Sudarshan (49 off 36 balls) and Jos Buttler (73 off 39 balls), who dominated the RCB bowling attack. Despite wickets falling to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hazlewood, Gujarat comfortably secured the win with 13 balls to spare.
RCB will need to reassess their strategy moving forward, especially after failing to capitalize on a decent total. Meanwhile, Gujarat celebrated a well-rounded performance with both bat and ball.
