Royal Challengers Bengaluru
(RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis led from the front in his side's much-needed win over Gujarat Titans (GT) on Saturday in Bengaluru, which kept RCB in the hunt for a place in the
IPL 2024
playoffs.
IPL 2024: Results | Points Table
Opting to bowl, RCB resctrited GT to a below-par 147, after which Du Plessis led RCB's successful run-chase with his sensational 23-ball 64, including 10 fours and 3 sixes.
The RCB bowling performance was spearheaded by Yash Dayal, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Mohammed Siraj, each claiming two wickets.
In partnership with fellow opener
Virat Kohli
, who smashed 42 runs off 27 balls, du Plessis added 92 runs in just 5.4 overs to the get the run-chase off to a flier. Du Plessis was then dismissed by Joshua Little, who starred for GT with his spell of 4/45.
However, RCB's fortunes took a downturn as their middle order collapsed against Little. Nevertheless, the formidable Kohli-Du Plessis partnership had inflicted considerable damage at the start, which alowed veteran finisher Karthik (21* off 12 balls) and Swapnil Singh (15* off 9) to take the team home for a convincing four-wicket win in just 13.4 overs.
The day after RCB's victory, the franchise shared a video on social media, which showed Du Plessis addressing the team inside the dressing room.
WATCH VIDEO
"Boys, well done tonight! Unbelievable performance. I think from my side I can definitely feel the confidence in the group when we're out there on the field. So I hope that belief is felt through the group, of how good a team we are when we are playing this style of cricket that we want to play. So, unbelievable effort on that," said the former South African captain.
However, the RCB skipper expressed some concerns for the middle-order collapse in the game, which saw Will Jacks (1), Rajat Patidar (2), Glenn Maxwel (4)l and Cameron Green (1) all falling cheaply. But it didn't stop RCB from registering their third consecutive victory.
"With the bat tonight, I know probably we were not at our best at that last bit of it. But that's fine, we'll talk about that in the review. Make sure we celebrate this because we worked hard - three games on the bounce -- and we take this momentum with us, we take the confidence with us when we move to the next game. Well done!
The win took RCB to No. 7 on the points table. However, their path to the playoffs remains hanging by a thread, requiring them to win their next three matches as well and hope for other results to go their way.
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