'The Way Virat & Dev Batted, It Was Unbelievable': Krunal Pandya As RCB Beat Gujarat Titans By Five Wickets

Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bengaluru registered a five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, built around a commanding partnership between Virat Kohli (81 off 44) and Devdutt Padikkal (55 off 27) in a 200-plus chase.

The pair added 115 runs in 59 balls to shift the momentum decisively in RCB’s favour, before Krunal Pandya finished the chase with a brisk 23 off 12 balls.

Reflecting on the victory, Pandya said, “Anything above 200 is always a tough chase because you have to keep going at almost 10 runs per over. The way Virat and Dev batted, some of those shots were unbelievable. I’m glad I could contribute and finish the game, nothing beats getting those two points.”

RCB’s bowling unit also produced a strong comeback at the death, restricting Gujarat Titans to just over 200 after a strong start.

He further added, “It was a really good wicket to bat on, but to restrict them from a position where they were almost 170 for one or two to 205 was a very commanding effort. Credit goes to all the bowlers, everyone stepped up when it mattered.”

Padikkal said, “We knew we had to build a big partnership and put the team in a strong position. Once we got the start, it was about taking it as deep as possible and making sure we kept the pressure on the opposition.”

The victory also marked the end of RCB’s campaign at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in the regular season. Padikkal lauded the incredible support from the fans.

“Fans, thank you so much. You guys are really, really special. Every single game you turn up and really get behind the side no matter what.”

In another milestone, Virat Kohli crossed 800 fours and 300 sixes in the IPL. He now holds the record for the most fours in IPL history and sits third on the all-time sixes list behind Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma, while also closing in on 9000 IPL runs.