Royal Challengers Bengaluru get within one game of defending title as skipper Rajat Patidar’s 33-ball unbeaten 93 blows away Gujarat Titans
In Virat Kohli’s career, 18.4 triggers memories of one shot – that off Pakistan’s Haris Rauf in Melbourne during the 2022 T20 World Cup. At Dharamshala, there was one shot that made Kohli jump off his chair in the dugout, with his jaws on the floor as he covered his mouth in disbelief at what he had witnessed.
Kagiso Rabada, among the bowlers of the tournament, had already endured a costly first spell (39 runs conceded in three overs) when he returned for his last in the 17th over. A back-of-length delivery, that has troubled most batsmen, should have bothered Rajat Patidar too. But the RCB skipper picked the length early, stood on his toes and the bat swing did the rest – sending the ball over covers for a six. 16.4 will be Patidar’s ‘Hang in the Louvre’.
It was the highlight of an incredible T20 innings that took Patidar to an unbeaten 93 off 33 balls and the team to a score of 254/5, as RCB steamrolled Gujarat Titans by 92 runs to return to the IPL final, laying down a marker for the other three sides in contention.
Titans brought down to knees
Prior to Tuesday’s knock, Patidar had already hit 14 sixes in this campaign. In the middle overs, no other batsman has dictated the game more, and made an impact as much as Patidar has. Spin or pace, it has hardly mattered to him. When he arrived in the middle, RCB had wobbled a bit off track. The two-paced pitch didn’t allow him to start fluently as he was 22 off 14. But off the next 19 balls, he hit 71, with 64 coming in fours (4) and sixes (8).
Dropped twice in the 14th over bowled by Prasidh Krishna, Patidar was simply unstoppable from there. Anything short landed either over the mid-wicket fence or the cover boundary. If the bowlers tried to cramp him for room, he would just flick it behind square. For the next India T20 squad selection, Patidar’s name should be on the team sheet regardless of who else makes it.
Losing the plot
Up until the 14th over of the first innings, GT were in the game. RCB had aced the Powerplay. Against the team with the best Powerplay bowling record this season, RCB had managed their joint-highest returns of the summer – 76/1. Before Patidar arrived, Kohli had looked good to make this night his own with a 25-ball 43. The innings had five boundaries, including a disdainful pull that scorched the turf off Rabada. But thanks to Jason Holder and Rashid Khan, Gujarat made a comeback when the second over of Kulwant Khejroliya, who was playing for the first time this season, signalled the tide change.
Right through this season, when the game is in the balance, RCB have invariably found a moment when they wrestle control, raising their game. It happened against Chennai Super Kings early in the season, and against GT on Tuesday. Here that moment arrived between overs 14-16, when RCB racked up 61 runs. In the space of 18 deliveries, Patidar and Krunal Pandya hit a stunning six boundaries and four sixes. That sort of impetus arriving just before the death overs started knocked the stuffing out of the opposition. In the next four overs, 65 runs came effortlessly as at a venue where 200-plus totals were often not enough to defend, RCB piled on 254/5 – the highest ever in a IPL playoff game.