Virat Kohli was pumped up as he reverse-cupped Shubman Gill’s shot near his neck. It was a good catch, and the RCB threw the ball on the ground in celebration and mouthed a “come on”. But Kohli’s energy wasn’t enough to lift the defending champions to a victory, as Gujarat Titans came out on top, winning by four wickets.
Chasing 156 runs, Gill handed GT a strong start, racing off to 42 off 16 balls after four overs with his side at 55/1. In the final ball of the fifth over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck, removing the GT skipper. Receiving a length delivery, Gill went down the track and made room outside the leg-stump, hammering it straight to Kohli at cover. Kohli had been trying to get under Gill’s skin, and it worked as the GT opener departed for 43 off 18 balls, packed with four fours and three sixes.
Despite his departure, Gill’s knock was enough to give GT the platform. Jos Buttler (39 off 19 balls) and Rahul Tewata (27* off 17 deliverise) played key knocks to build on the momentum as GT got to 158/6 in 15.5 overs.
Speaking after the win, Gill said, “Feels very satisfying, you know, on a wicket like this, restricting a team like them under 160 was a tremendous job by the bowlers.”
“I think our fielding was one of the things, it’s something I think at phases, we haven’t fielded that well in the game. And I think today was one of those days, everyone came together. The energy in the field was very, very nice, especially after the second over, Virat bhai hit us for some runs and how we all came back together. That was very crucial for us.
Praising Tewatia, he further added, “He’s very important player for us. So very happy that he finished the game. That was one of the conversations that we had in the timeout. We lost, I think, couple more wickets that [than] we would have liked, but in the end I think he got some nice runs and everyone got some hit in the middle.”
Initially, Devdutt Padikkal’s 24-ball 40 took RCB to 155 in 19.2 overs. Kohli was dismissed after a quickfire 13-ball 28. Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar’s (19 off 15 balls) dismissal was controversial as RCB felt that Jason Holder’s catch was illegal.