New Delhi: Gujarat Titans knew they had to counter Rajat Patidar’s stunning assault to ensure Royal Challengers don’t make it to back-to-back IPL finals. In the process, they also chased the highest playoff score in history, but a determined RCB ensured GT had no chance, booking a place in the final to defend their title with a 92-run win in Qualifier 1 in Dharamsala.
Contrary to RCB’s blitzkrieg at the start, GT never got going. Facing the excellence of Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jacob Duffy in the Powerplay, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill found it tough to disrupt their lengths.
Sudharsan’s hit-wicket dismissal was rather unlucky but Bhuvi had Gill’s number again. While Hazlewood had the last laugh against Jos Buttler, Rasikh Salam dismissed Jason Holder and Nishant Sindhu in one over.
The GT innings simply collapsed after that. The decision to play Duffy over Romario Shepherd also paid off for RCB – they didn’t end up needing Shepherd’s services with the bat, and although Duffy was bowled out early, he effected three dismissals.
Rahul Tewatia scored a fighting 68 off 43 but it wasn’t enough, especially after his team were reduced to 88/8 after just 11.2 overs. GT was eventually bowled out for 162 in 19.3 overs.
Earlier in the innings, RCB began with fearless intent. Venkatesh Iyer teed off yet again and alongside Virat Kohli, they surged to their highest Powerplay score of 76/1.
Iyer took on Mohammed Siraj from the outset, punching him through cover and then ramping Rabada for six. Though Rabada eventually bounced him out, the tone had already been set.
Kohli ensured the run-rate never dipped. He took on Mohammed Siraj and lifted him over mid-off. GT had managed to claw their way back through Jason Holder’s double strike that saw Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal in the same over.
Patidar then led from the front, smashing an unbeaten 93 off just 33 balls, striking at over 280 and peppering the innings with nine sixes.
Two of those sixes belong in a season’s highlights package: a back-foot straight hit over long-on against Rashid Khan despite turn and a stunning back-foot cover drive for six off Kagiso Rabada’s hard length. The six over cover from the back foot even left Kohli shaking his head in disbelief in the dugout.
Rashid Khan’s tight spell also kept RCB on edge briefly. But the counterattack that followed was so outrageously calculated that it resulted in 254/3 – the highest score in IPL playoff history.
At 94/3, GT sensed an opening. Rashid conceded no boundary in his first two overs, while Prasidh Krishna generated awkward low bounce from hard lengths. But GT’s fielding and execution crumbled under pressure.
Krunal Pandya survived twice in one Prasidh over while Patidar was dropped twice too. The 95-run-partnership between Patidar and Pandya ensured RCB’s approach did not falter despite being rocked briefly.
Then came the over that wrecked GT. Kulwant Khejroliya, playing his first match of the season, leaked 28 runs in an over riddled with two no-balls, a wide, a misfield and a full toss. Patidar feasted on it and ensured his team had a comfortable passage to the final.
