IMAGES from the Indian Premier League match played between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru pressed the self-destruction button halfway but a blazing fifty by captain Faf du Plessis had enough torque in it to carry them to a four-wicket over Gujarat Titans in their IPL match in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Du Plesiss (64, 23b, 10x4, 3x6) and Kohli (42, 27b, 2x4, 4x6), who added 92 runs in just 35 balls for the opening wicket, were in prime touch as Royal Challengers moved past a frail target of 148, braving some nervy moments, most of it their own creation.
The win also lifted RCB to seventh place on the table with eight points from 11 matches, and kept their mathematical chances of making it to the play-offs alive.
Du Plessis and Kohli dealt in boundaries as the home side racked in 92 runs in Power Play, that contained 10 fours and seven maximums.
Both Du Plessis and Kohli were severe on all GT bowlers, as the latter began the butchering with two sixes off pacer Mohit Sharma in the first over.
Du Plessis was in no mood to play the role of a sidekick as he waded into left-arm pacer Josh Little with a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 4 in the second over that produced a total of 20 runs.
The Titans introduced IPL debutant left-arm spinner Manav Suthar in the hope of containing Kohli at least, but the ploy was foiled spectacularly.
The RCB talisman showed his increasing comfort against spin, clobbering Suthar for two successive sixes.
Du Plessis reserved his punitive blade for Mohit, whom he carted around for four fours in the fifth over, as the South African reached fifty in just 18 balls before falling to Little.
RCB entered a phase of struggle from there as they lost last match centurion Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green between the sixth and 10th overs for just 20 runs.
Ahmad soon ousted Kohli as RCB were 117 for six but Dinesh Karthik (21 not out, 12b) was cool under pressure as RCB notched their overall fourth and third win in a row of this season.
Earlier, Gujarat Titans, preyed on by a sporting pitch, accurate Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowlers and their own inhibitions, laboured to a modest 147 all out.
There were a couple of good partnerships – 61 between David Miller and Shahrukh Khan and 44 by Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan – but the Titans lacked that one big innings or a stand that could have given them a firmer grip on the match.
In fact, they seemed distinctly incapable of accelerating even in the Power Play as their top-order batters struggled against RCB pacers, Mohammed Siraj (2/29) and Yash Dayal (2/21) who stuck to a wonderful length on a pitch that offered good carry and bounce.
That GT managed to strike just two fours in the Power Play segment offered ample evidence to their struggle and RCB bowlers' accuracy.
The Gujarat side's Power Play score of 23 for three was the lowest in the segment this season, and it was mainly due to Siraj's domination upfront.
Coming off a short-break, the pacer looked a far improved version of himself after the struggles of initial stages where he sprayed the ball all around.
He consumed Wriddhiman Saha with a fine outswinger which the GT opener wafted to Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps.
Shubman Gill followed soon as his attempted swat to the on-side of Siraj took a leading edge and ended in the hands of Vysakh Vijayakumar at deep point.
Cameron Green fetched the third wicket for RCB in the Power Play when he jettisoned in-form B Sai Sudharsan, whose feeble pull close to the body was snaffled by Virat Kohli at mid-off.
Once their top two run-getters of the season walked back to the dugout, the rest of the batters needed to step up big time for GT to reach a competitive total.
Miller (30, 20b) and Shahrukh (37, 24b) tried their best to drag GT out of the woods with a well-paced 61-run alliance off 37 balls for the fourth wicket.
Miller was even fortunate to get dropped on 23 off Green by Karn Sharma near square leg, did play some archetypal power shots.
He punished leg-spinner Karn for a couple of sixes – a pull and a loft over extra cover – but fell to the same bowler when a miscued heave was grabbed by Glenn Maxwell at deep.
But a bigger misfortune was in store for the visitors as Shahrukh, who backed up a tad too far to Rahul Tewatia's soft drop, could not beat a throw from Kohli to the non-striker's end.
For the sixth-wicket, Tewatia (35, 21b) and Rashid (18, 14b) added 44 off 29 balls, but the latter's desire to be innovative against Yash Dayal saw the ball crashing onto the stumps.
Tewatia, who punished Karn for 18 runs (4, 6, 4, 4) in the 16th over, too perished soon as GT limped to a below-par total.
