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A fiery 41-ball century by Will Jacks and Virat Kohli's unbeaten 70 runs helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a 9-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans (GT) with four overs to spare in the 45th encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
The RCB openers Faf Du Plessis and Virat Kohli started off the chase magnificently. Both batters put on a partnership of 40 runs in just 22 balls. On the next ball, Du Plessis was dismissed after scoring 24 runs off 12 balls with the help of three sixes and a four. After the Bengaluru-based franchise skipper's dismissal, Will Jacks came out to bat along with Kohli. The visitors brought up their fifty in the sixth over as Kohli slammed a maximum on the third ball of the over bowled by Sai Kishore. On the last ball of the 10th over, Kohli smashed a four on the bowling of Rashid Khan. In the 11th over, the Bangalore side brought up their 100 runs as Kohli took a single on the bowling of Mohit Sharma. Jacks completed his fifty on the second ball of the 15th over as he smashed a boundary on the bowling of Mohit. In the same over, the team brought up their 150 too. Jacks completed his century on the last ball of the 16th over, which was bowled by Rashid. This hit brought up RCB's third victory in the ongoing 17th edition of the IPL. Jacks and Kohli built an unbeaten partnership of 166 runs in just 74 balls. While Jacks played an unbeaten knock of 100 runs off 41 balls (ten sixes and five boundaries), Kohli scored an unbeaten 70 runs from 44 balls (six fours and three maximums). For the hosts, only Sai Kishore was a successful bowler in the match. He picked up one wicket and conceded 30 runs in his spell of three overs. Earlier, after winning the toss, Du Plessis sent the Titans to bat in the first inning. Wriddhiman Saha (5 runs from 4 balls) and Shubman Gill (16 runs from 19 balls) opened for the hosts but could only manage a 6-run partnership. Saha failed to stand still against Swapnil Singh, who dismissed the GT wicketkeeper in the sixth ball of the first over. Sai Sudharsan (84 runs from 49 balls) replaced Saha at the crease. The 22-year-old batter showcased a fiery performance and powered GT to a stable position. He hammered 8 fours and 4 overhead boundaries at a strike rate of 171.43. As Sudharsan was trying to settle on the crease, GT lost another wicket as Glenn Maxwell dismissed Gill in the seventh over. The skipper displayed a sloppy performance as he managed just 1 four during his time on the crease. Shahrukh Khan (58 runs from 30 balls) replaced Gill at the crease. After losing two quick wickets in the first powerplay, Sudharsan and Shahrukh played an 86-run partnership and helped the hosts make a comeback in the match. Shahrukh smashed 3 fours and 5 sixes at a strike rate of 193.33; however, he was dismissed in the 15th over by Mohammed Siraj. The dismissal of Shahrukh did not affect GT as David Miller (26 runs from 19 balls) came on and built a crucial 69-run partnership with Sudharsan and powered GT to 200/3 in the first inning. On the other hand, RCB displayed an average performance with the ball. Maxwell, Siraj, and Swapnil were the only wicket-takers for the visitors. RCB needed to chase down the target of 201 runs to win the match against GT in Ahmedabad. Brief score: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 206/1 (Will Jacks 100*, Virat Kohli 70*, Sai Kishore 1-30) vs Gujarat Titans 200/3 (Sai Sudharsan 84*, Shahrukh Khan 58, David Miller 26*; Swapnil Singh 1/23). (ANI)
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