Ahmedabad: In a must-win battle, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) thrashed Gujarat Titans by nine wickets with 24 balls to spare in Match 45 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, here on Sunday. And credit for the win goes to English allrounder Will Jacks, whose explosive batting (100 not out off just 41 balls) made it look like a cakewalk for the visitors on a wicket which was looking slow during the first half of the game.
Former India captain Virat Kohli, too, displayed some aggressive cricket to guide his team home as he smashed 70 off 44 balls. The former RCB captain was animated throughout the match as if he was on some mission. Kohli has faced a lot of social media trolls in recent times for his strike rate. But on Sunday, Kohli once again managed to silence his critics.
Put in to bat, Shahrukh Khan (58 off 30) had made full use of his promotion in the batting order while Sai Sudharsan (84 not out off 49) stayed till the end to guide Gujarat Titans to 200 for three.
The hosts didn’t get a positive start as Wriddhiman Saha (5) and Shubman Gill (16) failed to impress on a slow-looking track.
But a smart move by coach Ashish Nehra of sending Shahrukh Khan up the order proved fruitful. Shahrukh played some fearless cricket to guide his team to a better-looking total. He hit the ball to all parts of the stadium, to cheer the crowd. Sai too made sure that Shahrukh got more of the strike as he was hitting the ball well. Shahrukh reached his 50 off 24 balls (3 x 4, 5 x 6).
And Sai took 34 balls to reach his fifty (5 x 4, 2 x 6).
Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 200/3 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 84 not out, M Shahrukh Khan 58; Swapnil Singh 1-23) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 206/1 in 16 overs (Will Jacks 100 not out, Virat Kohli not out; Sai Kishore 1-30) by 9 wickets. Agencies
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