Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 21 : It was a Virat Kohli 'show' as Gujarat Titans bowlers found themselves helpless in front of his sublime knock of 101* at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.
Virat scored his 7th IPL century to surpass Chris Gayle and became the player with the highest number of centuries in IPL history. Virat raised his bat in the first ball of the final over to depict his excellence and prowess as a batter.
RCB made a vintage start to the game as Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli showcased their batting skills and ability to dictate the flow of the game early in the innings.
Their partnership was once again on display which has been the focal point of the success of RCB have enjoyed this season.
They produced some rollicking shots throughout the powerplay and ended with an impressive score of 62/0.
After the end of the powerplay, Hardik Pandya brought in their deadly spin duo from Afghanistan - Noor Ahmad and Rashid Khan. This single move brought GT back into the game.
Ahmad got the breakthrough by dismissing the RCB skipper Faf du Plessis for a score of 28(19). GT started to find their feet as Rashid dismissed Glenn Maxwell before he could take his time to settle on the pitch.
Noor came back into the attack to dismiss Mahipal Lomror for 1(3). Michael Bracewell walked in and stayed with Virat to keep RCB's innings intact after losing three wickets in quick succession. Along with Virat, he kept the scoreboard ticking, scoring runs at every single opportunity. But Shami had other plans as he picked up the wicket of Bracewell for a score of 26(16).
Dinesh Karthik had the opportunity to turn his season around by staying till the final over and finishing the game for RCB. However, Yash Dayal's single ball was enough to make sure his poor form continued in IPL 2023. Karthik left the crease for a golden duck.
From that moment Anuj Rawat and Kohli shifted their gears and quickly accelerated to push RCB towards the 200-run mark. In the final three overs, both of them gathered 42 runs to take RCB to a total of 197/5 in 20 overs.
Brief score: Royal Challengers Bangalore 197/5 (Virat Kohli 101*, Faf du Plessis 28; Noor Ahmad 2-39) vs Gujarat Titans.
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