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Right then. The Royal Challengers Bangalore keep their campaign alive, for now. As Faf du Plessis said, his boys put in a real effort tonight in a must-win game and came out on top in comprehensive fashion against the top of the table side. King Kohli's return amongst the runs was a sight for sore eyes as the men in red keep their hunt for that elusive title alive. With him hitting close to his best form, is this the start of something special for Bangalore? For now, they can hang their feet up and wait for the result of day after tomorrow's game, when the Mumbai Indians will take on the Delhi Capitals. Remember, RCB need Mumbai to win that game to seal their playoff spot. That's going to be another cracking contest at the Wankhede Stadium. Coming up tomorrow though will be a clash of the wicketkeeper-captains as the Rajasthan Royals look to secure a top-two spot with a win against the Chennai Super Kings. Do join us for that one. Until next time, this is the duo of Sooryanarayanan Sesha and Pratyush Rohra, signing off with a message - Ee Sala Cup Namde. Goodnight!
Virat Kohli is the Player of the Match for his knock of 73 off 54 deliveries.
Hear from the man himself: (A lot left in the tank?) Quite a bit. I can keep going, no issues at all. Important game for us tonight and as I previously mentioned I was disappointed I haven't done enough for the team. That's something that bothers me more than the stats. It's about how much I can contribute for the team and I'm glad I was able to do that today and put us in a nice position. You just need to keep the perspective right - you need to understand that there are expectations because of what you've achieved over the years. In the need to live up to those standards you forget the process and why you've set those standards. I worked really hard before this game - I batted about 90 minutes in the nets yesterday. I wanted to be very clear and I came into this game very relaxed having batted those 90 minutes. (On his fair share of bizarre dismissals) In that spur of the moment you feel like 'why is it happening to me' but when you go back to my first innings in England in 2014, I was dropped on 22 so the juggernaut could have been 2014 all over again. There are so many things you can't complain about, I can pick and choose so many moments where I've been dropped, I've gotten lucky and I've played some of my best innings. I've been blessed with a lot so I just want to keep working hard, put my head down and do well. With the very first shot that I played off Shami I felt like that. When I can hit length balls over the bowler's head for four or six, that's when I know I'm in a very good headspace. I know that I was going to get balls I can hit for four otherwise as well. So I knew that tonight was probably the night I had to back myself and go for my shots. It's been lovely - the kind of support I've got throughout this IPL and this whole time as well. As I said I'm in a very blessed position - I have no regrets or hesitations in admitting that I've received so much love which I hadn't seen before at such a large scale. I'm forever grateful for that and am very very happy to see it.
Faf du Plessis: That's what you hope for (performances from your star players) and that's the stuff we have been consistently speaking about behind the scenes as well. Obviously, throughout the season, we haven't done that as much as we'd like but you still have to back good players because you know when the big moments come, they will step up. That's exactly what happened today. I'm very happy for Virat. He's been working hard in the nets, trying to get through a tough patch and great to see him strike it like the Virat we know. I understand that it's the fired-up personality and character that gets him going, so I play the role with him. It's really fun to bat out there when he's going like that because he's got so much emotion it builds with you. It fees like you're ready to go and play a rugby match with all the energy going through you. It was a really fun. (On Maxwell's catch) That was awesome. Getting wickets for us is crucial. We've been trying to get better at getting wickets in the powerplay. That sets the tone, something special like that in the field and the runouts were pretty cool as well. The boys abused me for not having the strongest arm in the team but I've always said I don't need a strong arm when I move so quickly. So when I hit the stumps, the celebration was to say, "what do you say about my arm now?" (laughs). Tonight was really important for obvious reasons. You want to finish the competition strong and show that you are a group of people that has character within the dressing room. I think the worst thing for us that could have happened tonight was putting in a soft performance. That was really important for me to see from us as a group today and control what's in our hands. Probably one or two inconsistent performances put us in the position we are today but it was really important for us tonight. We have a couple of blue hats in our dressing room for the next couple of days and I'm banking on Rohit to go big.
Glenn Maxwell: I didn't want to soak up any time. Just wanted to get a couple away to try and put some pressure back on them and also take the pressure off Virat at the other end so he can keep the momentum going. Had I got out first ball, it wouldn't have made a huge difference but had I soaked up a few dots, it could have given them a bit of momentum back. So, just trying to be ultra-positive and leave the game in no doubt. We felt like we dominated with the bat and we deserved to close it out in the end. (On the ball hitting the stumps) I didn't hear it but when I missed it, I thought it must have been pretty close. The worst thing is picking a wrong one and missing it and thinking it's going to hit the stumps. Sometimes, you just need some luck. In this tournament, it's been up and down, so you've just got to take the good with the bad. At least the bail stayed on for me that time. (On his catch) In my mind, I was moving a bit too slowly and thought I wasn't going to get there. It just hit the fingers perfectly and stuck nicely. I've practiced that kind of stuff my whole life and it's not something that's just out of the blue. It's one of those things I work really hard on. It was a great start and we were able to control the powerplay after that. (On his bowling) It's just about holding your lengths. Sai bowled beautifully there and there was a bit of help for the finger spinners. We'll be watching the Mumbai-Delhi game pretty closely. We might have a bit of golf tomorrow, with a bit of rehab going on but the guys will stay really focused. The amount of hard work that's gone into this team this year, we feel like we deserve to be in the final four. Hopefully, Mumbai can do the right thing by getting us to Kolkata. All okay. Just a bit of age. Just tweaked a little bit while I was bowling and niggled around for it.
Hardik Pandya: I felt that it was just about a par score. We had 55 or 60 in the last five with the ball stopping a bit but we were quite happy with 160. We wanted to give him (Ferguson) the opportunity but the wicket was holding a bit. So, we thought taking pace off was the way to go. We pulled things back but the way Maxwell played left us 10 runs short in the end. We were at the right path. We have to try and not lose back-to-back wickets. That's the learning going into the playoffs. You can't be losing back-to-back wickets in T20 cricket. It's always good to be in the runs. This game will be a good learning for us and will help us in the playoffs. He (Saha) felt his hamstring was a bit tight. Just precaution in the end.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 170/2 (18.4) beat Gujarat Titans 168/5 (20) by 8 wickets. Virat Kohli 73 (54) | Faf du Plessis 44 (38) | Rashid Khan 2/32 (4) Hardik Pandya 62* (47) | David Miller 34 (25) | Josh Hazlewood 2/39 (4)
First things first, with this result the curtains officially come down on both the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Punjab Kings, as they fall out of the playoff race. It's now between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Delhi Capitals and of course, the Rajasthan Royals haven't officially qualified yet although they should get through irrespective of how their final game transpires thanks to a solid net run-rate.
But tonight was about Virat 'King' Kohli. The chase master. The man who's orchestrated many a fine chase for a good part of the last decade or so. And he's done it at long last when RCB needed him to do so badly. A solid start in the Powerplay set the tone on a two-paced surface and despite the odd fortuitous shot, it was the kind of luck that had deserted Kohli all season long.
And you know what they say - fortune favors the brave! Kohli was brave alright. He tore into the Titans attack and unsettled them from the word go. With an able ally in skipper Faf du Plessis, the master tore into a certain Rashid Khan as well, showing the kind of intent that never let the chase slip out of hand. Kohli was pumped right through as well - he was a man on a mission tonight.
Barring R Sai Kishore who as at his ecomonical best, none of the Titans bowlers had a clue. It took Rashid to break open the game with the wicket of du Plessis. When the bail lit up off the very next delivery though and didn't fall to hand Glenn Maxwell a lifeline, it summed up the outing for the Titans.
Kohli was stumped off a googly and wasn't there to wrap up the chase but Maxwell did the needful and wrapped it up with 8 deliveries to spare. And now they wait and pin their hopes on the Mumbai Indians come Saturday, as they lock horns with the Delhi Capitals.
Clinical! Simply clinical as far as run chases come. And RCB have stepped up when they had their backs to the wall. To do so against the table-toppers speaks volumes of how dominant they've been tonight. Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Gujarat Titans by 8 wickets with as many deliveries to spare!
19.0
18.4 Lockie Ferguson to Glenn Maxwell, THE BIG SHOWS WRAPS THINGS UP! A slightly streaky end to the game but that's how RCB's batting has gone tonight but you'd be pretty sure that many aren't complaining. This was short and Maxwell wasn't holding anything back. Throws the kitchen sink at it and skews a top edge that flies over Wade's head bounces inside the ropes before crossing it. Royal Challengers Bangalore complete a dominating victory by 8 wickets with 8 balls to spare.
Just outstanding batting this from Maxwell. One hit away now are RCB!
18.3 Lockie Ferguson to Glenn Maxwell, FOUR! Gets it this time! Short once more from Ferguson but he's offered a bit of width this time. That's all Maxwell needed as he ramps this up and over short third man to the the boundary
18.2 Lockie Ferguson to Glenn Maxwell, AHH! 145 clicks this time as he bangs it in short to cramp Maxwell for room as he attempted the cheeky upper cut but missed
18.1 Lockie Ferguson to Glenn Maxwell, FOUR! Slower one in the slot outside off-stump and it's dispatched in double-quick time. Stand and deliver from Maxwell again as he holds his shape and clubs this down the ground. Don't bother running!
Lockie Ferguson [1-0-9-0] is back into the attack. He will bowl over the wicket.
Royal Challengers Bangalore need 11 to win off 12 deliveries at 5.50 RPO. It's clear though that they cannot usurp the Delhi Capitals on net run-rate, meaning that they will need the Mumbai Indians to do their bit against the Capitals come Saturday. That said, there's a job to be completed here.
18
overs
158/2score
2
0
1w
4
1
1
1
runs
Glenn Maxwell*
28(14)
Dinesh Karthik
2(2)
Yash Dayal
0/35
17.6 Yash Dayal to Glenn Maxwell, back of a length with pace off again, Maxwell pulls it away to deep mid-wicket and retains strike for the next over. Will it be the final over?
17.5 Yash Dayal to Dinesh Karthik, back of a length slower one outside the off-stump, elegantly punched off the back foot for a single at deep cover
17.4 Yash Dayal to Glenn Maxwell, finds the block hole this time, squeezed out towards mid-wicket to get to the other end
17.3 Yash Dayal to Glenn Maxwell, FOUR! Another good length slower one outside the off-stump, Maxwell camps deep in his crease and has to reach out for this one to slap this over the covers for four