Will Jacks hit a sensational hundred while Virat Kohli raised his game in the middle overs as Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Gujarat Titans by nine wickets in the IPL on Sunday. Kohli (70 not out off 44), whose approach in the middle overs was questioned in the previous game, used the sweep shot against the spinners to make a statement before Jacks (100 not out off 41) broke away to to shoot down the 201-201. run the goal with as many as 24 balls left. Jacks went berserk in what turned out to be the last over of the match, hammering as many as four sixes and four off Rashid Khan, ending the match much earlier than expected. The Englishman plundered no fewer than ten sixes in his breathtaking effort.
Put in to bat, Shahrukh Khan (58 off 30) had made full use of his promotion in the batting order, while Sai Sudharsan (84 not out off 49) stayed till the end to guide Gujarat Titans to 200 for three. Titans introduced spin very early and Kohli was up to the task, collecting sixes from left-arm spinner Ravi Sai Kishore to make his intention crystal clear.
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He was particularly harsh on another Afghan spinner, Noor Ahmed, sweeping him at will before bringing up his fifty off 32 balls.
Kohli didn't have to do much after that as Jacks put the Titans' bowlers to the sword. RCB, who are having another tough season, picked up their third win in 10 matches while Titans suffered their sixth defeat in 10 matches. The Faf du Plessis-led team seemed to have finally found some momentum after recording a back-to-back win on Sunday. Earlier, batting at number four, Shahrukh teamed up with Sudharsan to give Gujarat Titans a much-needed boost after a lukewarm start. The duo shared a stand of 86 runs off 45 balls.
RCB came into action in the scorching Ahmedabad heat, with Glenn Maxwell returning to their squad after a break for “mental and physical health”.
Wriddhiman Saha (5 off 4) was dismissed early when the first overbow was bowled by left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh. The former Indian wicketkeeper tried to make room for an aerial hit over extra cover but ended up wrong to Karn Sharma at third man.
Captain Shubman Gill (16) was undone by the cross-field brilliance of Cameron Green, who ran down the left to make a stunning catch at long-on off Maxwell.
With Sudharan on the other side, Titans decided to do something different and sent Shahrukh ahead of Azmatullah Omarzai and David Miller.
The move worked as Shahrukh milked the spinners mainly in the cow corner, hammering five sixes and three fours. He completed the half-century with a maximum long-on off Green before Mohammed Siraj cleared him with a sharp yorker. Miller (26 not out off 19) joined Sudharsan in the middle and the two shared an unbeaten run of 69 off 36 balls to push the team to a par score.
Sudharan's second consecutive score of fifty-plus included eight fours and four sixes.
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