It’s a showdown between the King and the Prince as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru play hosts to Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans. RCB gears up to play their first game at home after registering away wins against Kolkata and Chennai. GT on the other hand comes into this fixture after defeating Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru come into this fixture after registering a great victory against the Chennai Super Kings. Gujarat Titans on the other hand defeated Mumbai Indians at their home to open their account on the points table.
RCB vs GT Predicted Playing XII
The clash between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans could be a closely contested affair. While RCB started their campaign with two wins away from home, GT endured mixed results in their two games. The hosts will feel confident leading into this game given they have registered wins against relatively tougher opponents in KKR and CSK. The Shubman Gill-led side on the other hand would like to carry on with the momentum from their previous game where they defeated Mumbai Indians. The players on the field will play a huge role in ensuring their sides get over the line at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
RCB Predicted Playing XII
Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma
GT Predicted Playing XII
Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Jos Buttler (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma
7:01 PM: RCB vs GT Toss Update
GT won the toss and elected to bowl first at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
RCB Playing XI
Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal
GT Playing XI
Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Jos Buttler (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Arshad Khan, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma
7:35 PM: Buttler drops a dolly
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 6/0 after 1 over. Salt: 1* (4), Kohli: 5* (2)
Mohammed Siraj on his return to the Chinnaswamy Stadium bowled an eventful over. He induced a top-edge on the first ball of the over but the ball landed safely. On the fifth ball of the over, Siraj once again induced another edge from Phil Salt. The ball went straight back to wicketkeeper, Jos Buttler who dropped a sitter to provide another life to the English batter.
7:40 PM: Arshad Khan gets the big fish
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 12/1 after 2 overs. Salt: 1* (4), Padikkal: 4* (2)
It’s King Kohli who has to make a long walk back to the pavilion. He scored seven runs on his return to the Chinnaswamy Stadium for the first time this season. Arshad Khan bowled an innocuous short-pitched delivery that should have been dispatched for a six. However, Kohli struck it straight at Prasidh Krishna.
7:47 PM: Mohammed Siraj gets Padikkal
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 15/2 after 3 overs. Salt: 2* (7), Patidar: 0* (2)
RCB is in deep trouble in the second over itself. Their return to the Chinnaswamy Stadium has hit a dead end courtesy of Arshad Khan and Mohammed Siraj. Siraj against his former franchise bowled a peach of a delivery to Devdutt Padikkal to disturb his stumps.
7:52 PM: Finally a big over for RCB
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 27/2 after 4 overs. Salt: 7* (10), Patidar: 5* (5)
Rajat Patidar along with Phil Salt would need to steady RCB’s ship. The duo have smashed their first boundaries of the innings in the fourth over. The hosts have finally gained some momentum in the first innings.
7:59 PM: Siraj gets his man, Salt departs
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 27/3 after 5 overs. Patidar: 6* (6), Livingstone: 0* (2)
Phil Salt has belted Siraj outside the stadium for a 105-meter six. But it was Siraj who castled Salt’s stumps and silenced the passionate crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The English batter has now joined Travis Head for the longest six of the season.
8:05 PM: GT ends the powerplay with firm control of the match
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 38/3 after 6 overs. Patidar: 7* (9), Livingstone: 0* (4)
Gujarat Titans thanks to the three wickets in the powerplay have a firm control over the match. Siraj against his former franchise struck twice dismissing Padikkal and Phil Salt. Arshad Khan got the big fish with King Kohli departing for a single-digit score in his first game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
8:10 PM: Ishant Sharma strikes in his first over
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 48/4 after 7 overs. Livingstone: 0* (4), Jitesh: 6* (4)
Ishant Sharma is one of the nine players to have played in the first season of the Indian Premier League and the 18th season. He is the only fast bowler in the list. Sharma dismissed the RCB skipper, Rajat Patidar with only his second ball of the match.
8:14 PM: RCB’s batting going nowhere
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 49/4 after 8 overs. Livingstone: 1* (5), Jitesh: 6* (9)
RCB’s batting seems to be as slow as the traffic in the city. Local boy, Prasidh Krishna has bowled two overs conceding only three runs.
8:20 PM: Jitesh gets going with a couple of boundaries
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 66/4 after 9 overs. Livingstone: 2* (6), Jitesh: 22* (14)
Ishant Sharma bowling his second over in the match was struck for a six and a couple of fours by Jitesh Sharma. The over went for 17 runs and has been the most expensive over of the innings. The RCB wicketkeeper batter needs to stick around for the rest of the overs to make sure that the hosts end up with a respectable total.
8:35 PM: Rashid bowls an expensive first over
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 91/4 after 12 overs. Livingstone: 17* (19), Jitesh: 32* (19)
Liam Livingstone survived a close LBW call on the first ball of the 12th over. Rashid Khan came into the attack for the first time in the innings. After starting the over on a great note, Rashid could not close out the over on a high as he was struck for a six and a four.
8:41 PM: Sai Kishore gets his first wicket
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 94/5 after 13 overs. Livingstone: 19* (21), Pandya: 0* (2)
Sai Kishore had an unlucky start to his spell. In the first over, the left-arm spinner had almost got his first wicket in the form of Liam Livingstone. However, Rahul Tewatia dropped the catch on the long-on boundary. In his second over, it was Jitesh Sharma who once again produced an opportunity. Tewatia redeemed himself by completing a fine catch.
8:48 PM: Sai Kishore gets his opposite number
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 105/6 after 15 overs. Livingstone: 19* (21), David: 1* (2)
Sai Kishore, left-arm off-spinner, dismissed Krunal Pandya in his third over. The RCB all-rounder gave a simple return catch which Kishore completed without any difficulty.
8:53 PM: Rashid continues to be expensive
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 119/6 after 16 overs. Livingstone: 33* (31), David: 6* (5)
Rashid Khan has had a pretty poor start to the campaign. It has been the same story for the Afghan spinner since the introduction of the impact player rule. The nature of pitches in the last few years has been pretty batting-friendly. He has only picked up one wicket in the season so far and is yet to showcase any control in the three games so far.
At the Chinnaswamy Stadium today, the right-arm leg-spinner has gone for 34 runs in the three overs he has bowled. Liam Livingstone who has pretty average numbers against spinners has also fared quite well against the spinner even hitting him for a six in his third over.
8:58 PM: Can Livingstone and David provide a late flourish?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are at 129/6 after 17 overs. Livingstone: 35* (34), David: 13* (7)
With only three overs remaining in the first innings, Liam Livingstone and Tim David would need to fire in the last 18 balls to make sure the hosts end up with a defendable total. Can the two overseas batters provide the much-needed late flourish to the innings.
9:15 PM: GT needs 170 runs to win
The fast bowlers and Sai Kishore were right on the money for Gujarat Titans. The bowlers have done their job on a small ground at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in restricting the hosts to 169 runs.
Can the batters seal the victory for the Titans? Or will the RCB bowlers bounce back in the second innings to make a game out of this? Let’s find out in the second innings.
9:33 PM: GT starts their chase cautiously
Gujarat Titans are at 5/0 after 1 over. Need 165 runs in 19 overs. Sudharsan: 2* (5), Gill: 1* (1)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, bowling the first over in the second innings provided a good start for the hosts. The veteran Indian pacer got the ball moving in the air. He bowled a quiet five-run over.
9:39 PM: Hazlewood follows Bhuvi
Gujarat Titans are at 11/0 after 2 overs. Need 159 runs in 18 overs. Sudharsan: 3* (8), Gill: 5* (4)
Josh Hazlewood bowled a great second over following in the footsteps of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. However, even with a couple of cheap overs, RCB will surely feel that they are behind the eight-ball. The hosts would need to pick up the first wicket quickly given the low target they are tasked to defend.
9:47 PM: Gill-Sudharsan shows respect to the new ball bowlers from RCB
Gujarat Titans are at 26/0 after 4 overs. Need 144 runs in 16 overs. Sudharsan: 15* (14), Gill: 8* (10)
The opening duo of Gill and Sai Sudharsan have benefitted hugely from knowing what their target is. In comparison to RCB batters who were playing with hard hands and pushing for boundaries, the GT openers have played with soft hands to drop the ball inside vacant spaces and run their singles hard.
Sai struck a six and a four against to complete Hazlewood’s second over of the night.
9:53 PM: Six and gone
Gujarat Titans are at 33/1 after 5 overs. Need 137 runs in 15 overs. Sudharsan: 15* (14), Buttler: 1* (2)
Shubman Gill looked to up the ante in the powerplay against Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The right-handed batter had stepped out in the fifth over to smash a six over the long-on boundary. He attempted a similar shot on the very next delivery but edged it behind where Liam Livingstone completed a great running catch.
10:03 PM: Buttler’s struggle at Chinnaswamy continues
Gujarat Titans are at 52/1 after 7 overs. Need 118 runs in 78 balls. Sudharsan: 26* (19), Buttler: 9* (9)
Jos Buttler’s night at the Chinnaswamy Stadium has been a struggle. He dropped a sitter in the first over of the match behind the stumps. In the second innings, he has struggled for timing with the bat in hand. He would look to smash a couple of boundaries to get his innings going.
10:07 PM: Sudharsan continues his great form
Gujarat Titans are at 57/1 after 8 overs. Need 113 runs in 72 balls. Sudharsan: 31* (24), Buttler: 9* (10)
Sai Sudharsan has been the top-scorer for Gujarat Titans in their past two games. Tonight against RCB, Sudharsan has jogged his way to 30 runs. Even though the left-handed batter has played with a low strike rate, he has made sure that the visitors do not lose wickets in a cluster.
10:13 PM: Buttler finally gets into his groove
Gujarat Titans are at 75/1 after 9 overs. Need 95 runs in 66 balls. Sudharsan: 32* (25), Buttler: 26* (15)
Only a few overs ago it felt like Jos Buttler was struggling to find his form at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. However, the English batter struck a couple of sixes in the ninth over against impact player, Rasikh Salam.
10:29 PM: GT gets going with Krunal going for runs
Gujarat Titans are at 105/1 after 12 overs. Need 65 runs in 48 balls. Sudharsan: 48* (34), Buttler: 39* (24)
Jos Buttler struck a six while Sudharsan hit a couple of fours resulting in a surge of runs in the 12th over.
Prior to the 12th over, RCB had bowled a few quiet overs since the powerplay. The 10th and 11th overs went for 13 runs.
10:34 PM: Sudharsan departs without a fifty
Gujarat Titans are at 111/2 after 13 overs. Need 59 runs in 42 balls. Buttler: 40* (25), Rutherford: 4* (3)
Josh Hazlewood came into the attack for a new spell and created an immediate impact. The tall Australian pacer struck with only his third delivery. Sai Sudharsan while attempting to play a fancy scoop shot, could not get the proper connection and gave a catch to the wicketkeeper, Jitesh Sharma.
10:41 PM: GT needs 36 runs in the final five overs
Gujarat Titans are at 134/2 after 15 overs. Need 36 runs in 30 balls. Buttler: 54* (31), Rutherford: 13* (9)
Jos Buttler after his initial struggle with the bat in hand, has turned his innings upside down. He got into his groove in the 11th and 12th by striking a four and a six. Since then, Buttler has managed to play a great knock thanks to some quick running between the wickets coupled with regular boundaries. Sherfane Rutherford came into the game as an impact sub and has struck a couple of boundaries to possibly seal the win for the visitors.
10:47 PM: GT pushing for an early win
Gujarat Titans are at 141/2 after 16 overs. Need 29 runs in 24 balls. Buttler: 59* (34), Rutherford: 15* (12)
Gujarat Titans after taking their time in the initial stage of the second innings has taken great control of the match. Jos Buttler completed his half-century in the 15th over and continued his fine form in the following over as well.
10:59 PM: GT register an emphatic win over the hosts
Gujarat Titans thanks to a great unbeaten knock from Jos Buttler registered an eight-wicket victory over the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. RCB after winning their first two games away from home returned to Chinnaswamy. Their curse of playing at home returned as well. Their first loss of the season came at home.
