Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GT) clashed in the 45th fixture of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024). The game, featuring Faf du Plessis‘ team against Shubman Gill’s squad, took place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, April 28th.
RCB came into the game against the Gujarat Titans (GT) riding high on a remarkable win against the formidable Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). They secured a 35-run victory over SRH while defending their total on April 25th at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad.
Batting first, RCB posted a commendable total of 206/7, with all the batsmen making significant contributions. Rajat Patidar stood out as the top performer, hitting a half-century off just 19 balls.
In their defence, RCB’s bowlers showcased their prowess, preventing the in-form SRH top-order from making substantial scores. Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, and Aiden Markram, the key figures in SRH’s batting lineup, were all dismissed within the powerplay.
From there, it was only a matter of time before RCB secured the victory. Swapnil Singh, Karn Sharma, and Cameron Green claimed two wickets each, while Will Jacks and Yash Dayal each took one wicket, limiting SRH to 171/8.
I found the pitch to be in excellent condition: Faf du Plessis
Returning to the GT vs RCB match, Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and opted to field first. Swapnil Singh struck early by dismissing Wriddhiman Saha, giving his team a solid start. However, Sai Sudharsan and Shahrukh Khan orchestrated a strong partnership for GT with impressive half-centuries. Eventually, the home team set a formidable total of 200/3.
In pursuit of the target, RCB’s batsmen Will Jacks, Virat Kohli, and Faf du Plessis dismantled the GT bowling attack. Will Jacks blazed to a remarkable century off 41 deliveries, while Virat Kohli hammered a 70-run innings off 44 balls, guiding RCB to a commanding 9-wicket victory with 24 balls to spare.
During the post-match presentation, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis expressed that the pitch offered favourable conditions for batting. He also highlighted the notable progress RCB has made in batting and bowling, emphasizing the team’s newfound confidence. Faf du Plessis remarked:
“I thought it was a really good wicket. When we bowled first, we felt like it certainly was a score that we could chase, obviously not 16 overs. It feels like we’ve made some real progress in both departments. We were way off in the beginning of the tournament, but it feels like there’s confidence in the group and you can see that in both bowling and batting. The guys are doing a really good job.”
Faf du Plessis continued to support his bowlers, emphasizing that RCB has been executing the fundamentals correctly in recent matches. He attributed the team’s improvement to the defeat against KKR, highlighting its role in their resurgence. Faf du Plessis elaborated:
“At the moment and the way the T20 game is … when you look at the score and you think, “bowlers, what are you doing?” But it’s not actually the case.”
“The game has changed so much. Especially that game against Kolkata, for me was probably a line in the sand moment for us as a team where the score was 220 but I felt like that was the first time we bowled to what we wanted to bowl this season.”
“The bowlers took some great confidence from that night and you can see the following performance has been really good. We are doing the basics much better now.”
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