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Seasoned quick Bhuvneshwar Kumar etched his name in the history books and became the joint-highest wicket-taker among pacers following his sublime spell for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Gujarat Titans in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
In Bengaluru's home den, Rajat Patdiar suffered his first defeat as RCB skipper. The Titans convincingly gunned down the 170-run target and stamped their authority with an emphatic eight-wicket triumph. Despite being trounced on their home turf, they were able to extract a couple of positives, among which stood Bhuvneshwar's searing spell. He bowled a full quota of his four-over spell, made early inroads by dismissing GT skipper Shubman Gill and returned with figures of 1/23. Even though his early efforts were in vain, Bhuvneshwar made enough impact to rewrite the record books. He left the stadium as the joint-highest wicket-taker among pacers after levelling Dwayne Bravo's tally of 183 scalps. The former Caribbean star raced to 183 wickets in 161 appearances, while Bhuvneshwar achieved the feat in 178 appearances. Overall, he is tied for the third-highest spot in the all-time wicket-takers list in the cash-rich league. His tally is only bettered by Yuzvendra Chahal (206) and Piyush Chawla (192). Bhuvneshwar, highly regarded as the "Prince of Swing", relied on his skill set and executed it to perfection. He backed his strengths and emerged as the most economical bowler for the hosts, conceding merely at 5.80. RCB's 170-run defence was going to be a laboursome affair, considering the high-scoring nature of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. In the first innings, while RCB was too late to adapt to the home conditions, Gujarat presented a perfect template for how visitors should approach a game on opposition territory. After Bhuvneshwar struck early and rekindled a spark in RCB's camp, their hopes soon faded away. Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler raised a 75-run partnership for the second wicket to break the backbone of RCB's defence. Josh Hazlewood was brought into the attack and broke the threatening partnership by scything Sudharsan's wicket. However, the damage had already been inflicted by the moment it arrived. Sherfane Rutherford was used as an impact substitute to see off the chase for GT. In the 18th over, Buttler and Rutherford decided to put a final nail in the coffin and steer GT past the finish line. Buttler smoked the ball past the boundary rope on two successive deliveries before Rutherford hammered the ball over the deep backward square fence to finish things in style. (ANI)
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