Mohammed Siraj after playing for seven years for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru stood between a win and his former team tonight. Coming back to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Siraj was under extreme pressure to deliver for his team. More responsibility was added to his shoulders with Kagiso Rabada missing the game due to personal reasons.
The right-arm pacer made RCB pay for their mistake of letting him go. Siraj picked up three wickets, two of which came in the powerplay. He had to wait for his first wicket. In the first over, Siraj induced an edge from Phil Salt’s bat, but Jos Buttler spilled a dolly behind the stumps. He got his man in the powerplay after rattling Devdutt Padikkal’s stumps. In his second spell at the death overs, Siraj got rid of Liam Livingstone who had top scored for the hosts.
It was a fairytale return for Mohammed Siraj to the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The right-arm pacer against his former team struck twice in the powerplay. Siraj dismissed Devdutt Padikkal to get his first wicket. The right-arm pacer silenced the crowd with the wicket of Phil Salt who had been in great form in the last two games for the hosts. His opening burst in the powerplay meant that his former franchise was put on the back foot. The 31-year-old in his second spell dismissed Liam Livingstone in the penultimate over.
Jos Buttler after having a poor time in the last couple of months for the English cricket finally got something to celebrate. The English opening batter played an unbeaten knock of 73 runs. Buttler was at his best with a typical knock from the Englishman. The right-handed batter started his innings a bit slowly but accelerated at the right time to seal the win for the visitors. His unbeaten knock consisted of five fours and six sixes.
Sai Sudharsan missed out on his third fifty in a row by only one run. The left-handed opening batter once again played a great solidifying knock. After the early dismissal of Shubman Gill, Sai remained concentrated and played out a couple of tough opening spells from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood. He made 49 runs hitting seven fours and a solitary six.
Liam Livingstone along with Tim David and Jitesh Sharma played a crucial innings with the bat in hand. The middle-order batter top-scored for the hosts thanks to some poor fielding by the Titans. He was dropped by Rahul Tewatia once, however, Livingstone made most of the second chance he was provided and struck only the second fifty of the match.
The first innings was dominated by Gujarat Titans and their fast bowlers. The opening bursts from Mohammed Siraj and Arshad Khan in the powerplay played a huge role in ensuring that RCB did not get away in the first six overs. Siraj returning to his former home ground was right on the money with the new ball. He took three wickets two of which came in the powerplay. Young Arshad Khan coming into the team in place of Kagiso Rabada took the all-important wicket of Virat Kohli. Sai Kishore and Prasidh Krishna continued their form and made crucial breakthroughs.
For the hosts, it was a disappointing display with the bat in hand. Liam Livingstone top-scored for the hosts making 54 runs in 40 balls. Jitesh Sharma and Tim David played a couple of 30-run knocks.
It was a great batting performance from the Gujarat Titans in the second innings. Led by Jos Buttler, GT registered a commanding eight-wicket victory. The English batter played an unbeaten knock of 73 runs. Sai Sudharsan continued with his great form from the last two games. However, the left-handed batter missed out on a fifty. His southpaw teammate, Sherfance Rutherford, scored 30 runs, coming in at number four as an impact sub to seal the win.
For the hosts, while defending an under-par total, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood showed great discipline with the new ball. The two pacers picked up a wicket each while the rest of the RCB bowlers failed to pick up another wicket.
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