The new addition to the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year, Gujarat Titans has made a habit of pulling improbable chases this year through their middle order of David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, and Rashid Khan. Two of them, Miller and Tewatia delivered the goods once again for the team as their 79 runs partnership off just 40 balls delivered another win for Gujarat against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
The win means Gujarat Titans have now had the best start to an IPL in its history winning 8 out of their first 9 games, while RCB has slumped to their 3rd successive loss, making it a real challenge for them to make the playoffs having collected 10 points after their 10 games.
Having won the toss and choosing to bat first, RCB didn’t get off to the best of starts losing their skipper Faf du Plessis without scoring. However, in good news for them, Virat Kohli was back among the runs as he put on a 99 runs partnership with the very impressive Rajat Patidar. Patidar scored a rapid 32 balls 52 before being dismissed by Pradeep Sangwan, who was playing his first IPL game in a long time.
Virat Kohli was eventually dismissed for 58 off 53 deliveries. Quick cameos later from Australian star Glenn Maxwell and Mahipal Lormor pushed RCB to 170 in their 20 overs, which looked like a very challenging score on the pitch. For Gujarat, Sangwan was the best bowler on the show as he finished with 2 for 19 off his 4 overs.
In response, Gujarat got off to a solid start through veteran Indian keeper Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill. However, RCB bowlers didn’t allow Gujarat to get away and reduced them to 95 for 4 in the 13th over. However, one thing this IPL season has taught us is that we can never write off the Gujarat Titans team.
Rahul Tewatia joined David Miller in the middle and the duo pushed Gujarat to yet another win while chasing to maintain their position on the top of the table. Tewatia, developing into a specialist finisher in the IPL, ended up with 43 off 25 balls while the seasoned Miller was unbeaten on 39 off 24.
Gujarat’s next encounter is against struggling Punjab Kings on Tuesday, while RCB will next face Chennai SUper Kings on Wednesday.
