Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a heartbreaking end to their IPL 2023 campaign as a defeat at the hands of Gujarat Titans on Sunday knocked them out of the tournament. Former captain Virat Kohli looked furious at the defeat as the team finished another season without the IPL title.
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RCB began the day as the favourites for the fourth spot as three teams including Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals fought to enter the playoffs.
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After MI defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the afternoon game, all RCB needed for playoffs qualification was a victory over the defending champions GT. Bangalore had a better NRR (net run rate) than MI and a victory on Sunday would have been enough.
However, RCB were stunned by an unbeaten century by Shubamn Gill as he ended their hopes.
IPL: Gill outperforms Kohli as GT end RCB’s campaign in Bengaluru
It began on a good note as Virat Kohli made 101 not out and RCB posted 197/5 at home batting first.
While RCB must have thought they can make short work of GT, Shubman Gill had other ideas.
The opener struck a classy 104 not out off 52 balls as Gujarat Titans finished the chase with five balls remaining and won the match by six wickets. Gill was well assisted by Vijay Shankar who made 53 off 35.
The crushing blow of the elimination hit Kohli hard who was seen throwing a bottle as RCB failed to defend the 198-run target. RCB pacer Mohammed Siraj was seen collapsed to the ground dejected.
RCB captain Faf du Plessis expressed disappointment after his team’s elimination and rued the fact that his side failed to take wickets in the middle overs in the crucial game.
“Obviously very disappointing. We got a really strong team tonight; excellent innings by Shuman Gill. There was a lot of grip in the second innings. I thought 195-200 was a good score. We needed that wicket of Shubman. From our batting perspective, our top four contributed really well… We missed a few runs consistently throughout the season, especially in the back-end of the innings. Perhaps in the middle [overs], we didn’t get as many wickets as we would have liked. We need a good middle order, and make sure we finish games off. Last season it was DK, but this season it wasn’t to be,” RCB skipper Du Plessis said after the match.
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