ANI
Bengaluru
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) managed to survive a middle-over scare of quick wickets despite an explosive partnership between skipper Faf Du Plessis and Virat Kohli to record a four-wicket win against Gujarat Titans (GT) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Chasing 148 runs, RCB was off to a fine start.
Du Plessis reached his half-century in just 18 balls, with eight fours and two sixes. This was the second fastest half-century by an RCB batter, next to Chris Gayle’s 17-ball fifty in 2013 against Pune Warriors India.
Little took the wicket of Du Plessis for 64 in 23 balls, with 10 fours and three sixes.
Noor Ahmed removed Kohli for 42 in 27 balls with two fours and four sixes.
Dinesh Karthik, the team’s designated finisher, eased some pressure with three boundaries in Rashid Khan’s over. RCB was left with 15 runs to get in eight overs.
RCB finished the run chasein just 13.4 overs, with Swapnil Singh (15*) and Dinesh Karthik (21*) unbeaten.
Earlier, a crucial 61-run partnership between David Miller and Shahrukh Khan followed by Rahul Tewatia’s blitz cameo propelled Gujarat Titans (GT) to 147 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru after RCB pacers ran wreaked havoc on GT batters.
Scores: Gujarat Titans 147 in 19.3 overs (Shahrukh Khan 37, Rahul Tewatia 35; Yash Dayal 2-23) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 152/6 (Faf Du Plessis 64, Virat Kohli 42, Josh Little 4/45) by 4 wickets.
