Jos Buttler's stellar half-century helps Gujarat Titans cruise past Royal Challengers Bengaluru

BENGALURU: With a stellar half-century from Jos Buttler and strong support from Sai Sudharsan, Gujarat Titans cruised past Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL match held at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Chasing a target of 170 runs, the former champions reached victory with 13 balls and 8 wickets to spare. Earlier, former RCB player Mohammed Siraj was on fire with the ball, restricting Bangalore’s score to 169.

Score: Royal Challengers Bangalore: 169-8 (20) | Gujarat Titans: 170-2 (17.5)

Gujarat Titans lost captain Shubman Gill (14 off 14) in the fifth over with the team at 32 runs. Gill was caught by Livingstone off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s delivery. Sai Sudharsan (49 off 36) and Jos Buttler (73* off 39) built a solid partnership for the second wicket, taking the team past 100 runs. Sudharsan departed in the 13th over while attempting an unnecessary shot, gifting a wicket to Hazlewood, with the team at 107-2. Impact substitute Sherfane Rutherford (30* off 18) joined Buttler at the crease and guided the team to victory.

Earlier, RCB, after losing the toss and being put to bat, posted 169/8 in their 20 overs. Phil Salt (14 off 13), Virat Kohli (7 off 6), Devdutt Padikkal (4 off 3), and captain Rajat Patidar (12 off 12) all fell within the first six overs. English batter Liam Livingstone (54 off 40) and wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma (33 off 21) rescued the team from an early collapse.

Australian power-hitter Tim David (32 off 18) played a crucial role in ensuring a respectable total in the death overs. Krunal Pandya (5 off 5) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1* off 2) remained unbeaten. Former RCB pacer Mohammed Siraj was Gujarat’s standout bowler, taking 3 wickets for just 19 runs in his 4 overs. Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore picked up 2 wickets, while Arshad Khan, Prasidh Krishna, and Ishant Sharma claimed one wicket each.