RCB’s Virat Kohli and GT’s Shubman Gill scored unbeaten centuries each in their match on Sunday night. Despite Kohli’s heroics, RCB lost the match to GT by 6 wickets, and crashed out of IPL 2024.
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans played the 70th and the final match of IPL 2024’s league stage at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday night. Heavy rains before the match delayed the toss, but the fans were lucky to still see a full-length 40-over match. Gujarat Titans won the toss and decided to field first, inviting the dangerous opening pair of RCB to the field. RCB posted a total of 197 runs thanks to Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 101, which GT chased down in 19.1 overs courtesy of Shubman Gill’s 104 not out. With this loss, RCB crashes out of IPL 2024.
RCB’s clumsy innings and Kohli’s historic century
The dynamic duo of former RCB skipper Virat Kohli and current RCB skipper Faf du Plessis got off to a flying start, posting 62/0 at the end of the powerplay with a run rate of more than 10. Faf was looking dangerous throughout the innings, but lost his wicket in the 8th over. Lomror and Maxwell perished soon after, with RCB losing 3 wickets in quick succession. Then, Kohli built a partnership of 47 runs with Michael Bracewell and steadied the faltering RCB innings.
Bracewell and Dinesh Karthik lost their wickets in quick succession again, leaving Kohli and Anuj Rawat to wrap up the innings. Virat Kohli reached the three-figure mark at 19.1 overs in just 60 balls. With this, Virat slammed the record-breaking 7th century in IPL history, surpassing Chris Gayle’s tally of 6. Kohli also became just the 3rd player in IPL history to score centuries in two consecutive matches after Shikhar Dhawan (2020) and Jos Butler (2022). Kohli remained unbeaten at 101 (61) at the culmination of the innings.
Gill’s counterattacking century and a brisk run chase
GT’s opening duo of the experienced Wriddhiman Saha and the young sensation Shubman Gill got off to a moderate start, with Saha losing his wicket in the 3rd over. GT were 51/1 at the end of the powerplay, slightly below the asking rate. However, Gill and impact player Vijay Shankar notched up the innings in the next phase of the game, scoring 97 runs between the 7th and 15th overs. In the last 5 overs of the match, GT needed 50 runs at 10 runs per over. The visitors sailed through the death overs to clinch a fairly easy victory over the mighty RCB, winning by 6 wickets with 5 balls to spare.
Shubman Gill scored 2nd century of his IPL career, reaching the 100-run mark with a six on 19.1. With that six, Shubman not only brought up his century, but also got GT across the line with the winning runs. Gill became the 4th player in IPL history to score consecutive centuries, after Virat Kohli in the previous innings. Gill’s fiery knock of 104 not out in just 52 balls bolstered GT to a whirlwind victory.
RCB crashes out, MI makes it
With their loss in the last game, RCB failed to qualify for playoffs, and crashed out of IPL 2024. Mumbai Indians qualified for playoffs with 16 points, 2 more than RCB. Had RCB won the match against GT, they would have qualified with a superior run-rate. However, MI becomes the 4th team to qualify. Playoffs will begin from Tuesday, while the final will take place on 28th May.
