IPL 2022: RCB beat GT, keep playoff hopes alive
Royal Challengers Bangalore overcame table-toppers Gujarat Titans in the 67th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season on Thursday. This was RCB's eighth win this season as they raced to 16 points. The prolific win has also helped RCB's NRR as they remain alive for a playoff berth. Batting first, GT posted 168/5. In response, RCB got past GT's total.
GT lost wickets at regular intervals to be reduced to 62/3. Thereafter, a fifty-plus stand between Hardik Pandya and David Miller helped the side recover. Pandya got help from Rashid Khan (19*) and the two ensured GT surpass the 160-run mark. Josh Hazlewood claimed two wickets for RCB. In response, RCB openers laid a solid foundation for the side (115).
Pandya was the star for his side, scoring a 47-ball 62. He slammed four fours and three sixes. In 13 games, Pandya has surpassed the 400-run mark this season. He has 413 runs at 41.30. This was his fourth fifty this season. Pandya has raced to 1,889 runs in the IPL at 29.51. This was his eighth IPL fifty.
Miller scored a 25-ball 34 for GT. In 14 games, Miller has 381 runs this season at a prolific average of 54.42. Overall, Miller has raced to 2,355 runs at 35.14. He surpassed Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 2,334 runs. Wriddhiman Saha (31) has surpassed the 2,400-run mark in the IPL (2,422). This season, he has 312 runs in nine games.
RCB opener Virat Kohli brought up a 33-ball 50. He ended up with a 54-ball 73, slamming eight fours and two sixes. The senior Indian cricketer slammed his second fifty in IPL 2022. Notably, both his fifties have come against the Titans (58 earlier). Overall, Kohli smashed his 44th IPL fifty. He has also got to 575-plus fours in the IPL (576).
Rashid Khan claimed two wickets for 32 runs. He dismissed both the RCB openers. Rashid has raced to 18 wickets from 14 games this season. Overall, the wrist-spinner has claimed 111 scalps at 20.72.
In 14 games, Wanindu Hasaranga has claimed 24 wickets in IPL 2022. He has an average of 15.08. Hasaranga has gone level with Yuzvendra Chahal, who too has 24 scalps. In 10 games, Josh Hazlewood has raced to 15 wickets this season at 20.73.
