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Following his side's defeat to the Gujarat Titans (GT), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Rajat Patidar, focused on the positives, saying that the team targeted reaching 190 despite losing early wickets and that the way the middle order, consisting of Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, and Tim David batted, was positive for the team.
After two incredible away wins against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), RCB suffered an early jolt at the start of their home campaign at M Chinnaswammy Stadium and lost to GT by eight wickets. Speaking after the match, skipper Patidar said during the post-match presentation, "Not 200, we were targeting around 190 after the powerplay, but losing early wickets harmed this match. I think the intent was good, but we should not have lost as many as 3 wickets in the powerplay, it was one wicket too many. The conditions did get better, the bowlers were amazing trying to defend this total, to take this chase into the 18th over was amazing to watch. The way Jitesh, Liam Livingstone, and Tim David, the way they batted, it was a positive for us. We are confident about the batting line-up, they are showing some positive intent which is very good for us." Coming to the match, RCB was put to bat first by GT, who won the toss and opted to field. As ex-RCBian Mohammed Siraj (3/19) reduced RCB to 42/4, a 52-run stand between Livingstone (54 in 40 balls, with a four and five sixes) and Jitesh Sharma (33 in 20 balls, with five fours and a six) and a 46-run stand for the seventh wicket between Livingstone and Tim David (32 in 18 balls, with three fours and two sixes) helped RCB make 169/8 in their 20 overs. Sai Kishore (2/22) and Prasidh Krishna (1/26) were also impressive with the ball. During the run-chase, GT lost their skipper Shubman Gill (14) early, but top knocks from Jos Buttler (73* in 39 balls, with five fours and six sixes), Sai Sudharsan (49 in 36 balls, with seven fours and a six) and Sherfane Rutherford (30* in 18 balls, with a four and three sixes) took GT to a win with 13 balls and eight wickets in hand. Siraj won the 'Player of the Match' for his spell. Now, RCB is in third place in the points table with two wins and a loss, giving them four points. GT is a spot below them with the same win-loss record and points. (ANI)
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