What should have been a challenging chase of 201 runs against Gujarat Titans (GT) for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) turned into a child's play within a few overs as Virat Kohli and Will Jacks mocked the 2022 champions' spin trio of Rashid Khan , Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore and pacer Mohit Sharma with their incredible six-hitting. They sent the fans down memory lane, reminding them of Virat's exploits with AB de Villiers against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions in the 2016 season, where they both scored centuries and put up a 229-run stand for the second wicket.
The duo put together a partnership of 166 runs in just 73 balls to guide their team to a nine-wicket victory. Virat hit an unbeaten 70 in 44 balls, with six fours and three sixes to steady one end, while Jacks unleashed unprecedented carnage after reaching his fifty in 31 balls, while reaching his century in 41 balls, with five fours and 10 sixes. on a six-hitting spree.
Here are the records that Jacks-Virat rewritten and shattered during their partnership:
-10 balls: Jacks needed just 10 balls to convert a half-century into a match-winning ton. This is the least it has taken for a player to reach a hundred in the IPL. The previous record belonged to Chris Gayle, who needed just 13 balls to convert his half-century into a ton and reached three figures in just 30 balls against the now-defunct Pune Warriors in 2013.
-This is only RCB's second 200+ run chase in IPL history, after a huge gap of 14 years. The Red and Gold side over the years have given a platform to superstars like Virat, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Faf Du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Kevin Pietersen etc. to showcase their proven class at the international level for the franchise and yet a gap existed. RCB's previous chase of over 200 runs was in March 2010 against Punjab Kings, when Jacques Kallis (89*) and Robin Uthappa (51*) took them to a successful chase of 204 runs.
-RCB is the first team to achieve a win by nine or more wickets during a run-chase of more than 200 runs in the IPL.
-This exciting franchise still had 24 balls when a huge six from Jacks helped him reach his century and the team their third win. This is the biggest win in terms of balls left in IPL history (and the biggest in all of T20 cricket), overtaking MI's win over RCB in 2023 when they were left behind by 23 balls while chasing 200 runs.
-Virat brought his absolute top game against spin, clubbing Rashid, Noor and Sai with class and consistency that he hasn't shown against spinners in a while. Known for attacking pacers through spin, a different Virat appeared for this match. He scored 61 runs out of his 70 against spin, the most he has made in a single T20 innings against spin. Also, his strike rate of 179.41 against spinners was his third highest against the spinners in IPL after 240.90 against Punjab Kings (scoring 53 in 22 balls out of a possible 113 in 50 balls) (PBKS) in 2016 and 188.46 against Gujarat Lions in 2016 (49 scored in 26 balls out of a possible 109 in 55 balls).
-Afghanistan's T20 superstar Rashid Khan continued his tough run in the IPL 2024 as he suffered a thrashing to remember. In the 16th over, Virat took a single and Jacks unleashed his carnage, hitting 6,6,4,6,6 in the next five balls, plundering 29 runs from the over. This is Rashid's most expensive cricket in all of T20.
-Jacks hit 95 runs in the middle overs (seven to 16 overs), the third highest by a batsman in an IPL innings during middle overs, the first being Virender Sehwag who scored 107 runs against Deccan Chargers in 2011 and Gayle 105 runs in this phase against PWI in 2013.
-This is Virat's seventh season in which he has scored 500 runs or more. He is the first Indian to do so and only second player after David Warner to achieve the feat.
-All four of Jacks' T20 centuries have come in 50 or fewer balls, the fastest in 41 balls for Pretoria Capitals against Durban Super Giants (DSG) in SA20 2024. Gayle (10), Maxwell (5) and Suryakumar Yadav (4 ) are the other players who have four or more hundred balls of 50 or less in T20 cricket.
In the match, half-centuries from Sai Sudarshan (84 in 49 balls, with 12 fours and four sixes) and Shahrukh Khan (58 in 28 balls, with three fours and five sixes) helped GT overcome a slow start with the bat. David Miller's useful 26* in 19 balls, with two fours and a six, helped GT reach 200/3 in 20 overs.
Swapnil Singh, Mohammed Siraj and Maxwell got a wicket each.
In the chase, Faf Du Plessis, the skipper (24 in 12 balls, with a four and three sixes) departed early, but Jacks and Virat entered into a partnership to remember to win the game for their side.
Jacks took home the 'Player of the Match' award.
RCB are at the bottom with three wins, seven losses and six points. GT is seventh with four wins, six losses and eight points.
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