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Royal Challengers Bengaluru scripted a four wicket win over Gujarat Titans, but not without a bit drama in the middle.
After the Titans folded for 147, Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli handed RCB one of their best starts, but a mini collapse silenced the Chinnaswamy crowd before Dinesh Karthik and Swapnil Singh finished the job to keep their play-off hopes alive.
Take a look at the best knocks of Match no. 52 of the ongoing IPL season.
Shahrukh Khan
Visitors Gujarat Titans were 10 for 2 in the 4th over. That is when Shahrukh Khan came in to bat.
After that torrid start, they needed a batter to stand up and deliver.
Shahrukh Khan put his hand up and helped GT fight back. He got off the mark with a four and went about his business in the same vein.
He scored through boundaries and singles and twos. He also got a maximum when he smashed a short ball by Cameron Green over wide long on for a six.
He scored a crucial 61-run partnership with David Miller before the latter was dismissed by Karn Sharma for 30.
Shahrukh was dismissed in the very next over. In the 13th over, Virat Kohli exhibited an excellent display of fielding as his direct hit ran out Shahrukh for 37.
Shahrukh's 24-ball 37 was peppered with five boundaries and one maximum.
Rahul Tewatia
Rahul Tewatia's blitz cameo propelled the Titans to 147 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
With Titans reeling at 93 for 5, Tewatia, coming in at No. 6, got off the mark with a boundary.
He kept finding the boundaries at regular intervals and alongside Rashid Khan, kept the scoreboard moving.
In the 16th over he pressed his foot on the pedal and smashed Karn Sharma for 19 runs (4-6-4-4-1).
Tewatia played a decent hand before a sensational catch by Vyshak Vijay Kumar brought his innings to an end.
Tewatia’s 21-ball 35 included five boundaries and one maximum.
Virat Kohli
With Anushka Sharma back in the stands cheering for him for the first time this season, the star batter made his intentions clear from the onset, getting off the mark with a six. His strike rate a concern? Kohli silenced one and all as he handed RCB a flying start.
Needing 148 to win, Kohli got his innings off to a cracking start with a regal shot, lofting Mohit Sharma for a maximum over long off, and then hammering another maximum over midwicket to get into the groove early.
After his smashing start, Kohli enjoyed du Plessis' assault from the other end. Kohli next picked on Manav Suthar, hammering him for two back-to-back maximums.
Kohli and du Plessis put up RCB's best-ever Powerplay score, posting 92 for the loss of one wicket. Their previous best Powerplay score was 79/1 in 2011 at the same venue.
After du Plessis departed in the final over of the Powerplay, Kohli lacked the support from the other end, with wickets tumbling.
He welcomed Noor Ahmad with a boundary after the Powerplay though the scoring rate dropped with RCB losing quick wickets.
After the seventh over, Kohli found his next boundary in the 11th over, once again smashing Noor's short delivery through deep midwicket for four.
He failed to bring up his half-century as Noor got his revenge on the next ball, dismissing him for 42 off 27.
Scoring at a rate of 155.55, Kohli's knock was peppered with two boundaries and four sixes. Kohli reclaimed the Orange Cap after his knock against the Titans.
Faf du Plessis
While Kohli made RCB's intentions clear with two maximums in the first over, Skipper du Plessis wasn't one to be left behind as he joined the party in the very next over. Faf took charge of the chase as the opening pair looked to boost RCB's net runrate.
After getting off the mark with a single, du Plessis welcomed Josh Little with back-to-back boundaries as he hammered Little for 20 runs in his first over. Du Plessis smashed Little for 4-4-6-2-4 as RCB raced to 34/0 at the end of the second over.
Faf didn't take his foot off the peddle as he next smashed Suthar with a six and a boundary on the trot. He then welcomed Mohit back with a boundary, to bring up RCB's half-century off just 19 balls. Hammering Mohit for three more fours in the same over, the home team skipper had the stadium on its feet.
It was a sizzling performance as he brought up his half-century off just 18 balls. Faf missed the fastest fifty by an RCB batter with Chris Gayle holding the record with his 17-ball fifty for the Challengers.
After racing to his third fifty of the season, Faf welcomed Little in the final over of the Powerplay with a boundary before smashing him for a six and a four. Little gave GT some respite as he finally got the breakthrough, removing the RCB skipper in the Powerplay.
Scoring at a sensational rate of 278.26, Du Plessis' 23-ball 64 was studded with ten boundaries and three sixes. Du Plessis and Kohli's opening partnership laid the foundation for an RCB win though not without the drama.
Dinesh Karthik
When du Plessis departed in the final over of the Powerplay, RCB was cruising at 92/1. Needing just 56 off 84 to win, it should have been a walk in the park for the Challengers. But the RCB crowd was silenced with the home team quickly losing their way.
From 92/1 in 6.5 overs, RCB suddenly found themselves reeling at 111/5 in 9.5 overs, though the required run rate was just 3.60. With wickets tumbling, Dinesh Karthik walked in at No. 7 in the 10th over.
With Kohli departing in the next over and silence descending on the stadium, Karthik had a job to do with Swapnil Singh at the other end. Donning the finisher's hat once again, DK took charge of the chase, hammering Rashid Khan for three boundaries in the 12th over.
DK and Swapnil posted an unbeaten 35 off 18 for the seventh wicket to take the hosts to a four wicket win.
Scoring at a rate of 175, Karthik struck an unbeaten 21 off 12, which included three boundaries. Swapnil chipped in with a 9-ball 15 as RCB chased down the total with 38 balls to spare.
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