Baton handed over?
It is difficult to not think of it. Virat Kohli scored successive hundreds to give RCB something to fight with. The heir apparent of the throne of Indian batting, Shubman Gill, effortlessly outdid him with a hundred of his own in eight balls fewer. In the process he broke tens of thousands of hearts at Chinnaswamy. RCB are knocked out. MI are in at No. 4. We leave you here as I move to writing down the match report. See you in the playoffs.
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Miller falls
A similar story unfolding here as it did in the first innings. Shubman Gill not getting much support. Now David Miller falls, caught at deep cover for 6 off 7. GT still 27 off 14. And strangely, still we don't see Hardik Pandya. Rahul Tewatia is in at No. 6.
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Sixiest IPL edition
1063 Number of sixes hit in this IPL, which is now the highest. There's a whole playoffs left still. Shubman Gill's flick-slog off Mohammed Siraj at the start of the 18th is 1063rd.
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RCB continue fighting
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1w
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No boundary in the 17th over, bowled by Vyshak. RCB are still hanging in.
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Shanaka in, Shanaka out
GT perhaps wanted to give some time in the middle to Dasun Shanaka, and promoted him ahead of David Miller and Hardik Pandya. The way he struggled to time the ball, it does look like he does need some time in the middle. Out for 0 off 3, trying to slog a slower ball from Harshal Patel. RCB hanging in. It's 150 for 3 in 15.3 overs.
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T20, eh?
Not long ago we were thinking if GT are flirting with the idea of retiring Vijay Shankar out as he was struggling so much he was making Shubman Gill slog. And then suddenly one or two edged boundaries, two hits out of the screws, one 105m six, and he got to his fifty off 34 balls, faster than Kohli. The difference perhaps is that Shankar has a much deeper batting order around him, and he could continue taking risks. Kohli was pretty much a one-man band. GT need 50 off the last overs.
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GT's luck record
42 Number of runs GT have scored when their batters have not been in control. That's well past the most for an innings this IPL, and they still have 64 left to score in the last six overs.
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Gill goes big
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RCB bowl the offspin of Michael Bracewell to two right-hand batters, and Shubman Gill takes it all upon himself to cash in. He is beaten twice on the reverse sweep, but gets two sixes off the regulation sweep and the slog sweep. GT need 73 off 42.
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Fifty for Gill
Shubman Gill is responding with a classy innings of his own, bringing up his fifty in 29 balls. The problem for GT is that Vijay Shankar has got stuck at the other end. He is just 32 off 26. They now need 89 off the last eight with nine wickets in hand.
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RCB's wretched luck
33 Number of GT's runs, out of 84 for 1 in nine overs, that have come when they have not been in control. RCB managed only 16 such runs in their whole innings.
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Siraj 2-0-8-1
Mohammed Siraj began with outswing, and then in the second over wobbled the seam to nip the ball back in. Not one run has been scored off an in-control shot off him. The coup de grace is finally to get the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha, whom he has troubled continuously. Eventually it takes a special catch at cover from Wayne Parnell, jumping like a goal-keeper, sticking out one nip, and making it look casual and easy. GT 25 for 1 in three overs.
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Kohli No. 1 on hundreds
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Who needs sixes?
1 Number of hundreds at Chinnaswamy with one six or fewer. In fact, there have been four in all of IPL: two by Virat Kohli, one by Shikhar Dhawan, one by Shubhman Gill.
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T20 Time Out
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RCB need to keep GT to 196
Virat Kohli walks back to pats from the Gujarat Titans players, and then a standing ovation from the stands. He has faced 61 balls for 101 runs with wickets falling around him. His second successive century.
Kohli says, and this is not exactly verbatim: We would have taken it with both hands when we were five wickets down with Anuj as the last specialist batter left. We have pulled things back nicely. We were targeting 190 when we lost five wickets. A lot of people think my T20 cricket is in decline, but I don't agree. I am playing my best T20 again. I feel really good with my game, and how I am batting at the moment. Spin wasn't easy to get away, and taking pace off is a lot of our bowlers's strength. You need to run a lot of twos. If we can cut down the boundaries, and not allow them the twos, it will be a difficult chase.
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Century for Kohli
Only the third time there have been consecutive hundreds in the IPL. Shikhar Dhawan in 2020 and Jos Buttler in 2022 are the other two. He gets there in 60 balls, meaning the last 50 have come at two runs a ball. It is 183 for 5 in 19.1.
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Kohli at death
202 Virat Kohli's strike-rate at the death in all T20 cricket. Here he has played out the 17th, bowled by Rashid Khan, but then he has gone after Yash Dayal in the 18th. He is 89 off 55, and RCB 169 for 5 in 18 overs. Shami and Mohit to bowl the last two.
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Golden duck for Dinesh Karthik
140 Number of runs Dinesh Karthik has managed in 13 innings this IPL. He has got out 12 times and faced 104 balls. Yash Dayal gets a tickle on the bouncer down leg. RCB 133 for 5 in 14.2 overs. Karthik also now holds the record for most ducks in the IPL: 17.
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Shami gets purple cap back
24 Number of scalps Mohammed Shami reaches with the wicket of Michael Bracewell. He is tied on 24 wickets with Rashid Khan, but has a better economy rate despite bowling so much in the powerplay. RCB 132 for 4 in 14 overs after a good little hand of 26 off 16 from Bracewell.
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Fifty for Kohli
The eighth time he has gone past the mark this year. He has done so off 35 balls this time. He is batting with more freedom than he allowed himself the last three-four years. He scored 36 off 22 in the first six, 16 off 14 in the next six. However, you have to make allowance for three quick wickets around him. RCB 112 for 3 in 12 overs.
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Now Saha's movements
Don't think it is a plan at all. This one just doesn't turn, and Mahipal Lomror - left-hand batter - walks past it down the leg side. It is a wide of course, but Saha follows the angle beautifully, collects it, and stumps Lomror. It is 85 for 3 in 8.1 overs.
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Maxwell in, Maxwell out
Glenn Maxwell comes out all guns blazing, taking down Noor Ahmad, but in the next over the other mighty Afghan gets him. The wrong'un, headed for top of off and middle. Maxwell gives him a big gap to drive through. RCB 80 for 2 in 8.2.
Rashid now has the purple cap, which Mohammed Shami held till now.
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Saha's Dhoniesque pads
Finally some luck going GT's way. Noor Ahmad bowls a superb wrong'un, Faf du Plessis has read it, but still gets a thick outside edge. There is no way a keeper can take that but it hits Wriddhiman Saha's pad, and lobs up for a simple catch at slip. Just shows you the advantage of having a slip as opposed to a fielder standing at the edge of the 30-yard single. RCB 67 for 1 in 7.1 overs.
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Ink boys records
8 Number of stands of 50 or more between Kohli and du Plessis this IPL. It goes past the record set by Kohli and de Villiers in 2016: 7
This is another one.
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Du Plessis gets going
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After two tight overs, Faf du Plessis decides to go after everything despite Mohammed Shami's impeccable lengths. Two of those boundaries are mis-hits but you need to be taking risks in T20 powerplays. The best time to bat.
And then Kohli follows it up with an attack on Yash Dayal. His boundaries are in control; all three timed perfectly.
RCB 43 for 0 in four overs.
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Go time
Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis to open. Mohammed Shami has the new ball. Let's go
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Better news
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Titans win toss before drizzle arrives
Hardik Pandya has won the toss, and looking at the weather, he has decided to chase. Faf du Plessis would have done the same had he won the toss.
Pandya says this is as important a game for them as it is for RCB because they don't want to lose momentum two days before their first playoff.
Himanshu Sharma comes in for Karn Sharma in the RCB 16. However, minutes after it the drizzle has come back and so have the covers.
RCB Team V Kohli, F du Plessis*, GJ Maxwell, MK Lomror, MG Bracewell, Anuj Rawat, KD Karthik†, HV Patel, WD Parnell, V Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj
Gujarat Titans Team WP Saha†, Shubman Gill, Yash Dayal, HH Pandya*, DA Miller, R Tewatia, MD Shanaka, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, MM Sharma
RCB subs Himanshu Sharma, S Prabhudessai, Finn Allen, Sony Yadav, Akash Deep
GT subs Vijay Shankar, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Sai Kishore, Abhinav Manohar
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Game on in Bangalore
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We wait on
It had stopped raining but the drizzle is back on. The covers are back on, and so we wait again. Just to brush up on the playing conditions, we start losing overs only after an hour's play is lost. Plus we can take 10 minutes off the innings break. So Bangalore fans need not get despondent. Looking at the weather forecast, I think we will have close to 20 overs tonight.
It feels academic to inform you given the forecast but the latest a five0-over match can start is 10.56pm.
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Last match of the leagues
Match 70 of the IPL 2023, and the Bangalore hopeful are looking up rather than down. It bucketed down some time ago, but now we are alternating between a drizzle and dry spells. This is the godfather of grandstand finishes. With Mumbai Indians looking like they will win their match, Royal Challengers Bangalore need to win against Gujarat Titans. However, let me inform you the Chinnaswamy drainage is among the best in the world. And a shorter game favours RCB because then they have to worry less about runs from outside their big three. Whatever be the case, we are here with all the news, colour and analysis. As of now we can tell you the toss has been delayed.
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