Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have reached the Indian Premier League (IPL) final for the second time in a row after a convincing 92-run win against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 1 at Dharamsala.
Gujarat Titans, who won the toss, decided to bowl first, but this decision did not work out for them as RCB put up a benchmark total of 254 runs, the highest in IPL playoff history.
Captain Rajat Patidar played a giant role in RCB’s innings as he remained unbeaten on 93 from 33 balls, hitting 9 sixes and 5 fours. He also got great support from Virat Kohli, who scored 43 from 25 balls, and Krunal Pandya, who added 43 off 28 balls, maintaining a good scoring rate during the innings.
Gujarat had few opportunities to keep the scoring in check early on but could not get the job done. Kagiso Rabada dropped Patidar twice while the batsman was still finding his feet, and these lapses proved very expensive as the RCB leader captain went on to overpower the bowling.
Gujarat Titans quite simply found the target of 255 too much, and they faced difficulties right from the first ball. The dependence of the team mainly on their Openers for indepthness became their biggest weakness as the fall of early wickets disturbed their chase. They were 51 for 5, and from that point, there was hardly any option left for them to come back.
Shubman Gill the captain got only 2 runs before his wicket fell. Sai Sudharsan also lost his wicket after he was hit by the bat and that showed the pressure of chasing a very high score. Rahul Tewatia was the only one among the batters who could put up some fight and he scored 68 runs. However, by the time he got himself going, it was a done deal for Gujarat. The rest of the team hardly managed to put up any solid partnerships and the required run rate was just going up all the time.
RCB’s bowlers did a great job in supporting their batters by staying focused. The bowling leader was Jacob Duffy who got 3 wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam, and Krunal Pandya each managed 2 wickets, guaranteeing Gujarat to be bowled out way below the target.
This victory enabled RCB to get a direct spot in the final, and they will have a little break before the title match. Gujarat Titans, on the other hand, will go to Qualifier 2 in New Chandigarh for the chance to make the final once more.