Gujarat Titans batter Rahul Tewatia.
Mumbai: An exemplary tale-end partnership between Rahul Tewatia and David Miller of 79 runs in the fifth wicket took the tabletop Gujarat Titans (GT) to six wickets victory against faltering Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 43rd match of IPL 2022 at the Brabourne Stadium here on Saturday.
When GT made a comeback with Tewatia's 42 and Miller's 39 note out, the team reached the target of 171 in 19.3 overs but served dismay to Virat Kohli, who had knocked a half-ton amid his struggle to find foot on the pitch in the tournament. Also, Rajat Patidar made an impressive contribution for RCB with 52 off 32 on Saturday.
While GT had their 8th straight win in nine matches and retained the top position on the table, RCB remained at fifth with ten points from ten matches.
Ford GT, Shubhman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha gave a great start, adding 46 runs within powerplay. After Saha (29 off 22) and Gill (31 off 28), skipper Hardik Pandya (3 off 5) took strike. But he gave the bottom edge to Shahbaz and got caught.
In the first innings, Kohli, desperate to get into the rhythm, made a half-century and also built a second-wicket partnership of 99 runs with Patidar. Kohli made his half-ton with six boundaries and a six. But Kohli couldn't retain his presence after losing Patidar and got out at 58 when the team score was 129. Mohammed Shami rattled his stumps with a yorker when Kohli gave room for a cover drive. Dinesh Kartik, the saviour, couldn't also make additions. He left the pitch, giving a top edge off Rashid khan. RCB fell 143/4 as the 18th over concluded. Then Glenn Maxwell (33 off 18) and Mahipal Lomror (16 off 8) gave a tale end push to the score but wasn't enough against the high and mighty GT.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 170/6 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 58, Rajat Patidar 52, Glenn Maxwell 33; Pradeep Sangwan 2/19, Rashid Khan 1/29) lost to Gujarat Titans 174/4 off 19.3 overs (Rahul Tewatia 43 not out, David Miller 39 not out, Shubman Gill 31; Wanindu Hasaranga 2/28) by six wickets.