Expert finishing job from Tewatia, Miller takes Titans to eighth win in nine games

Gujarat Titans 174 for 4 (Tewatia 43*, Miller 39*, Shahbaz 2-26, Hasaranga 2-28) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 170 for 6 (Kohli 58, Patidar 52, Sangwan 2-19) by six wickets

Not for the first time this season, Rahul Tewatia and David Miller dragged Gujarat Titans out of trouble, giving the table-toppers their eighth win in nine games in the process - it's the best-ever start by any team in an IPL season. When Titans were 95 for 4, Royal Challengers Bangalore had the momentum, but an unbroken 79-run stand between Tewatia and Miller consigned Faf du Plessis' men to a third straight defeat.

Tewatia and Miller hit nine fours and three sixes between them in their 40-ball partnership after getting together at the fall of B Sai Sudharsan in the 13th over. Wanindu Hasaranga and Shahbaz Ahmed had rattled the Titans top-order after a half-century opening stand between Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill, and looked, for a while, as though the Titans' run was coming to a close. Not to be, as Miller and Tewatia punished Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood in the back end, and sealed the win with three balls in the bag.

That the Titans had to chase a modest target of 171 - despite fifties from Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar - was courtesy left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan's 2 for 19 and Rashid Khan's 1 for 29. Sangwan, playing his first IPL game since 2018, dismissed du Plessis and the in-form Patidar, while Rashid's economy returned to his usual standards after he had conceded 45 in his last outing.

Patidar overshadows Kohli

After opting to bat first, du Plessis could not reap the benefits of his decision when he fell in the second over to a Sangwan delivery angling across him, nicking to the wicketkeeper. It brought in Patidar at No. 3 and Kohli and he were watchful in rebuilding before three boundaries in the fourth over opened up the run flow.

The 40-degree-Celsius temperatures did not deter Kohli and Patidar from operating with ones and twos on the large ground when the boundaries were tough to find, and as both grew it confidence, it was clear that Kohli was going to anchor while Patidar had the license to go for his shots. Patidar hammered Rashid for a six, the two then crunched Lockie Ferguson for a 15-run over, and after Patidar went after Alzarri Joseph, it became a race for which batter would reach his fifty first. Kohli won that race, getting his first IPL half-century of the season in the 13th over, and Patidar got his maiden IPL fifty in the next.

An innings that fizzled out

At 110 for 1 after 14 overs, it was time for the set batters to start hitting from both ends. Patidar, however, miscued a scoop to give Sangwan a second wicket at the start of the 15th over, and Kohli was out to a slower-ball yorker from Shami in the 17th before Glenn Maxwell could rev his engine up.

But Rashid then picked up Dinesh Karthik, and the revolving door of incoming new batters in that crucial period hurt them. A few late hits from Maxwell lifted him to 33, and a cameo of 16 from Mahipal Lomror took Royal Challengers to 170 for 6.

In the end analysis, Kohli's 53-ball 58 at a strike rate of under 110 could come under the scanner. His contribution of 58 got a value of only 46.02 Smart Runs. By contrast, Patidar's 52 runs earned him 62.01 Smart Runs.

Miller-Tewatia extinguish RCB's hopes

The chase of 171 was tricky since the surface was helping spin and the IPL grounds are now beginning to wear out a bit, making Royal Challengers' gamut of spinners and change-up bowlers a challenging proposition for the Titans batters. Saha, the powerplay attacker, started off in the same fashion as his last outing, allowing Gill to settle in. Gill made only 19 by the seventh over when the Titans had reached 50 for no loss.

In search of a wicket, du Plessis turned to Wanindu Hasaranga, and he dismissed Saha for 29 almost right away with a googly that the batter scooped down the ground. Gill then was out lbw against the run of play when Shahbaz drilled a quicker ball in after the batter had hit him for a six and a four. Not long after, in the space of four overs, Titans slipped from 69 for 2 to 96 for 4 as the two spinners picked off Sudharsan and Hardik Pandya cheaply too. Hardik, when on 3, he hit a full ball from Shahbaz to long-on, while Sudharsan was caught behind after getting an edge off Hasaranga.

Tewatia, the eventual Player of the Match, was nearly out in his second ball but survived an lbw decision off Siraj after the third umpire overturned it on review. From the other end, Miller did not allow Hasaranga to finish his spell strongly by hitting him for a six and a four. Tewatia then eked out two fours and four leg-byes off Siraj.

With the equation down to 36 off three overs, Josh Hazlewood was brought back in search of a quiet over, but that was not to be. Tewatia flicked him over fine-leg before creaming him through the covers. Miller ended the 18th with a pull for four, and the 17-run over made Titans the favourites in the chase for, possibly, the first time.

With momentum now on Titans' side, they hammered Harshal Patel's 19th for 12 runs, and with seven needed off the final over, the two batters shared the spoils by hitting a boundary each and finishing the game with enough in hand.