RCB vs GT

11:30 PM local time and IST: 50th win for RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, they will now be on the road for a bit before they move to their second home of the season Raipur for a couple of games. GT, on the other hand, find themselves at number 7 courtesy a negative run rate with 3 wins in 7 games. They will have a short turnaround and a quick flight to Chennai and will turn up at the Chepauk in less than 40 hours from now to play an afternoon game against CSK. 

Tomorrow, we have a double-header Saturday as the action keeps coming thick and fast. It will be DC taking on PBKS in Delhi to kick us off in the afternoon, make sure you join us then. For now, this is Sourabh Agrawal signing off on behalf of Pradeep, Bidipto and the rest of the team here. Cheers!

Virat Kohli is now the Orange Cap Holder with 328 runs in 7 games and is also the Player of the Match for his 81 runs off 44 balls, here is what he had to say:

We had to assess the conditions at the start, we always knew chasing 200 in Bengaluru that we are one partnership away. Me and Bethell had to assess because they have a quality bowling attack. The way Dev came in, the six that he hit off Rabada off his first ball, it is twice in the season now that he has done this. You never see him slogging the ball, it is quite rare. For me, his innings was the clear difference in the first half and then for me it was just about finding the boundaries at the right time so he doesn't feel the pressure

(conversation at the start) Even in our bowling, we bowled really well to pull things back. They were 20-25 short, we were looking at 230-odd at one stage. The feedback was that the wicket is very good, perhaps the best batting conditions so far. The ball was not stopping for the spinners, we knew that if we stayed for longer it was only going to get tougher and tougher for the bowlers. Dev was going great guns and the idea was to put pressure on the bowlers. There was intent, clarity and feedback and we did not have any doubts

(body language of the team) The body language comes from the beilef. To be honest, we have a tremendous batting lineup. We have guys who can play proper cricket shots and hurt the bowlers, then we have the power of Tim and Romario, then the cricket smarts of Krunal. The message was simple - if you see the ball, go fir it because we have the depth

Brilliant, we were firstly very happy that we got to play 5 games here. It is quite a special to play the game, hopefully we can come back at the later stages of the tournament. 4 out of 5 (at Chinnaswamy) is a great start

Rajat Patidar (RCB captain): (few nervy moments at the end) That was a tight match but a lot of learnings from the match. The way we started off with the ball, Bhuvi and Hazlewood in the powerplay, then Suyash bowled really well and then in the end the yorkers from Bhuvi, Hazlewood and Rasikh were great to see. We planned to stop them around 200, we thought it would be a good score and the execution in the death with the ball helped us stop them to 205. (the chase) Superb, the way Bethell and VK (Virat Kohli) bhai started us off put us in the driving seat, Devdutt played a spectacular knock which I enjoyed a lot really. But in the middle overs, we lost a lot of wickets and we need to go back and learn from the mistakes we did

Devdutt Padikkal [Royal Challengers Bengaluru]: "(On his current form and confidence) It feels great. I’ve put in a lot of hard work to get here, so it’s satisfying to see it paying off out in the middle.(On improvements in his game) A lot of it comes down to self-belief, especially the confidence the management has shown in me. There have also been a few technical changes over the last couple of years. It wasn’t easy at first adjusting to them, but now I’m starting to see the results.(On his standout shot) That six over cover was probably my favorite shot of the day. It felt really good coming off the bat.(On his role in the batting unit) It’s about reading the situation and playing accordingly. Chasing a total around 210, we knew the powerplay was crucial, and then it was important to carry that momentum forward. That was the focus.(On strike rate and finishing games) Scoring quickly is great, but for me, it’s equally important to bat deep and finish games. That’s something I’m working towards consistently.(On the team’s batting depth) Having that kind of firepower lower down the order gives you the freedom to play your natural game. Knowing there are strong finishers waiting allows us to be more expressive at the top."

Shubman Gill [Gujarat Titans captain]: "(On falling short of a bigger total) Yes, 220 did look possible at one stage. But from the 16th to the 19th over, we couldn’t find boundaries and didn’t get the runs we were aiming for. Those middle overs towards the end were crucial, and that’s where we fell a bit short.(On moments with the ball and missed opportunities) At the end of the powerplay, we felt we were in a good position. The plan was to pick wickets in the middle overs, but we couldn’t capitalize. There were moments where we had a chance to shift the game, but we didn’t sustain the pressure.(On dropped chances and fielding impact) Dropped catches are always tough, both for the fielder and the team. But it’s important to move on quickly. With the ball, we had phases where we were in the game, but we weren’t consistent enough with our lengths, which made it difficult to control things.(On tactical bowling decisions) When I was batting, I noticed that the slower balls were gripping a bit, so we decided to take a chance with spin. The idea was to create an opportunity—if we could pick up a couple of wickets in that phase, it might have brought us back into the contest.(On his opening partnership) We’ve developed a good understanding while batting together. He was disappointed with how he got out in the previous games, but he bounced back well. Hopefully, next time he gives me a bit more strike in the powerplay."

11 PM local time and IST: MATCH SUMMARY

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (206/5 in 18.5 overs) beat Gujarat Titans (205/3 in 20 overs) by 5 wickets 

Virat Kohli 81(44) | Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/31(4)
Sai Sudharsan 100(58) | Rashid Khan 2/49(4)

RCB chants echo around the Chinnaswamy Stadium, their beloved team was playing its final league game of the season at home tonight and they turned out in huge numbers only to be treated to a spectacle! The defending champs chase down 206 with 7 balls to spare and make it 5 out of 7 to move up to number 2 in the points table

Huge banners have been unfurled in the stands, one of them says ATTACKING CHAMPIONS (not defending) and they have truly played like that in this run chase. 4 out of 5 wins at the Chinnaswamy, they will now move out of this venue but not before making this a bit of a fortress which has been a dream of many a RCB teams over the years

Where can we look back to for GT? Two moments stand out, one moment and one was a phase and both have come back to hurt the Titans big time. 120/0 in 12 overs, 170/2 in 16 overs and then a big slump, no boundaries in the next 3 overs and a score which looked like 220 ended up at 205 and that too cortesy a final flourish from Jason Holder in the final over before the likes of Hazlewood, Bhuvi and Suyash sucked the life out of the GT innings

205 was still a good score, it was a defendable score but Kohli was dropped off his first ball by Sundar at mid-wicket off Siraj's bowling out of all the bowlers, an absolute dolly that should be taken 11 times out of 10 at any level in cricket. Kohli faced 43 more balls after that, he pretty much killed the run chase with 81 runs with some classic Kohli shots combined with the modern avatar of the great man and in the process put on 117 runs for the second wicket with Devdutt Padikkal who himself enthrilled the crowd with a scintillating 20-ball half-century

A few wickets did fall towards the end, 5 in total, RCB lost 4 wickets for 32 runs but it was a bit too little too late by then. Every single RCB batter had their roles clear, they just wanted to finish it off as early as they can and they did so in the end with 7 balls remaining in the end

Last but definitely not the least, it would be a disservice to not mention Sai Sudharsan's 3rd IPL century which went in vain unfortunately for him and GT but that does not take anything away from the knock that the young man played, he became the quickest batter to get to 2000 IPL runs in terms of innings (47 innings) in doing so as well

18.5 Jason Holder to Krunal Pandya, THAT'S IT! RCB THUMP GT! They are back to winning ways with this win. Slower one, short into the batter Krunal on top of the bounce, helps it down to fine-leg for one and seal the deal. Two crucial points and they move up the ladder on the points table.

18.4 Jason Holder to Krunal Pandya, FOUR! Krunal's playing a brilliant cameo here. Banged in short, Krunal pulled it flat to deep square-leg, one bounce into the ropes.

Got to feel for the young left-arm spinner there, the left-hander took him down even though not every shot was off the middle of the bat but that is how this game goes. Onlly 7 needed now, RCB would look to finish this in this over itself