Virat Kohli looked genuinely fired up as he reverse-cupped a shot from Shubman Gill just in front of his neck. The catch was sharp, and RCB players spilled into celebrations, even mouthing “come on” as they thought they had turned the contest. Yet that burst of intensity wasn’t enough to carry the defending champions over the line, with Gujarat Titans prevailing by four wickets after chasing 156.
In pursuit of the target, Gill provided GT with an assertive start. He raced to 42 off 16 deliveries in the first four overs, taking his side to 55/1. The momentum shifted in the fifth over’s last ball when Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck to remove the GT captain. Faced with a length ball, Gill went down the pitch, opened his stance by making room outside the leg stump, and struck the ball straight toward Kohli at cover. Kohli had been trying to disrupt Gill’s rhythm, and the plan appeared to work—Gill departed for 43 off 18, his innings laced with four fours and three sixes.
Even with the setback, Gill’s knock still did the heavy lifting by laying a solid foundation. Jos Buttler contributed 39 from 19 balls, while Rahul Tewatia remained unbeaten on 27 off 17 as GT built steadily toward the finish, reaching 158/6 in 15.5 overs.
Speaking after the win, Gill said the manner of restriction mattered on a wicket like that. “Feels very satisfying, you know, on a wicket like this, restricting a team like them under 160 was a tremendous job by the bowlers.” He also pointed to fielding as a crucial factor in the turnaround. “I think our fielding was one of the things… at phases, we haven’t fielded that well in the game. And I think today was one of those days, everyone came together. The energy in the field was very, very nice, especially after the second over, Virat bhai hit us for some runs and how we all came back together. That was very crucial for us.”
Gill then singled out Tewatia’s impact, adding, “He’s very important player for us. So very happy that he finished the game. That was one of the conversations that we had in the timeout. We lost, I think, couple more wickets that [than] we would have liked, but in the end I think he got some nice runs and everyone got some hit in the middle.”
Earlier, RCB had set the tempo before the chase. Devdutt Padikkal’s 24-ball 40 carried them to 155 in 19.2 overs. Kohli was dismissed after a quick 13-ball 28, unable to extend the acceleration at the death. Rajat Patidar’s exit also became a talking point, with RCB viewing the dismissal as controversial—after they felt Jason Holder’s catch was illegal—despite Patidar being sent back for 19 off 15 balls.
