BENGALURU: After being on the road for the last five games, Royal Challengers Bangalore were back at their home turf M Chinnaswamy Stadium - playing a must-win match against table toppers Gujarat Titans on Sunday. Even before the fans thronged the stadium, the rain gods made a visit, threatening a washout.
When the game started after a delay of almost an hour, the crowd were treated to a Virat Kohli special (101 n. o; 61b, 13x4, 1x6), helping his team score 197/5. But his innings was cancelled out by Gujarat's Shubman Gill magical ton (104 n. o; 52b, 5x4, 8x6) to secure a six-wicket victory and dump RCB out of the competition. Interestingly, both the players scored back-to-back tons.
On a batting surface, aided by shorter boundaries, Gujarat were in no mood to take it easy. Gill alongside Impact Player Vijay Shankar (53; 35b, 7x4, 2x6), who walked in at number three, gradually silenced the home crowd with a century stand for the second wicket. With well settled batters in the crease, Gujarat needed 64 runs in the last six overs and they were the favourites, but Shankar was caught at the deep by Kohli, who left the field after the catch, and Dasun Shanaka fell in a span of four balls.
1/10:IPL 2023: Gujarat Titans eliminate Royal Challengers Bangalore
ANI
2/10:GT beat RCB
<p>Gujarat Titans opener Shubman Gill hit a superb century to outdo Virat Kohli's second successive ton as Royal Challengers Bangalore were eliminated from the IPL on Sunday.</p>PTI
3/10:Shubman Gill
<p>Gill followed his century against Sunrisers Hyderabad with an unbeaten 104 off 52 balls as Gujarat reached 198/4 with five balls to spare for a six-wicket win.</p>PTI
4/10:RCB 197/5
<p>Kohli with 101 not out — his record seventh century in the IPL — anchored RCB to 197/5 but Gill powered Gujarat's run chase by hitting eight sixes and five fours.</p>PTI
5/10:RCB openers
<p>After the start was delayed by nearly an hour because of rain, Kohli and captain Faf du Plessis combined in a 67-run opening stand off 43 balls. </p>PTI
6/10:35-ball 50
<p>But Gujarat spinner Noor Ahmad (2/39) and Rashid Khan (1/24) squeezed the runs in the middle overs as Kohli raised his half-century off 35 balls. </p>PTI
7/10:7 IPL tons
<p>Kohli upped the scoring rate in the death overs with his superb drives on both sides of the wicket and became the first batter in IPL history to score seven centuries. </p>PTI
8/10:Kohli ton
<p>Kohli scooped Mohit Sharma (0/54) to long on in the final over for a single to raise his hundred off 60 balls only to see Gill's brilliance take the win away from his team. </p>PTI
9/10:Match-winner
<p>Gill defied the data favoring teams batting first and winning at Bangalore in the recent past with his superb stroke play. </p>PTI
10/10:Match-winning stand
<p>Gill and Vijay Shankar (53) put on a match-winning stand of 123 runs for the second wicket. </p>PTIThe equation changed to 34 in three overs, but two Gill sixes despite David Millers' wicket in the 18th over brought the visitors to the driving seat. Gill fittingly completed his ton with a six in the final over to win their 10th game of the season.
Earlier, Kohli looked in top form throughout the innings, smashing the Gujarat bowlers all around the park. He had already hit six fours in the powerplay with Faf Du Plessis also in good form. But the former captain did not receive much support from the other end in the middle overs, which did not help his cause.
Michael Bracewell showed some promise with a 16-ball 26, but it was all upto Kohli to put a good total on the board.
