GT Captain Shubman Gill Rues Missed Boundaries in Crucial Loss to RCB

Batting first, Gujarat Titans posted 205/3 in 20 overs, driven by a brilliant 100 off 58 balls from Sai Sudharsan. At one stage, they looked set for a total in the 220-230 range, having reached 170/2 after 16 overs. While GT got 15 runs from the 16th over, they also lost Sudharsan in the over.

However, Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowlers Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood tightened the screws, conceding no boundaries across the next three overs and restricting GT to just 17 runs from 18 balls. Despite a late surge of 18 runs in the final over, GT finished well below their projected total.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Shubman Gill said the Gujarat Titans lost momentum in the crucial 16th to 19th overs, where they failed to find boundaries and fell short of expected runs.

"Definitely, I think from 16th to 19th we couldn't get any boundaries and couldn't get as many runs as we would have liked. Those were crucial overs for us," Gill said.

With the ball, GT had restricted RCB to 58/1 in six overs but then failed to contain the flow of runs as Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal put together a 115-run partnership off just 59 balls, laying the foundation for RCB's five-wicket victory. Kohli led the charge with a fluent Player of the Match-winning 81 off 44 deliveries, while Padikkal chipped in with a brisk 55 from 27 balls to provide strong support.

Gill noted that while the team was in a strong position after the power play, they couldn't pick up key wickets in the middle overs.

"At the end of the powerplay we were in a good position and it was about taking wickets in the middle overs and were not able to after the powerplay got over," he said.

Notably, Virat Kohli was given a reprieve early in his innings when Washington Sundar dropped a straightforward catch off Mohammed Siraj's delivery, with Kohli still on zero at the time.

Gill acknowledged a dropped chance of Virat Kohli early in his innings, adding that such moments are tough but must be overcome. He admitted GT struggled with consistency against length deliveries and praised Royal Challengers Bengaluru for batting well in the middle overs.

"When a batsman gets dropped on nought, it's always tough on the fielder but it's important how you come back into the game. We had our moments but we were not able to consistently able to hit the length balls. And I think they batted beautifully in the middle overs," Gill said.

Coming to the match, despite an early setback with Jacob Bethell's dismissal, Kohli and Padikkal stitched a 115-run stand to stabilise the chase.

RCB briefly wobbled in the middle overs as wickets from Rashid Khan and Manav Suthar brought GT back into the contest, but Krunal Pandya (23* off 12) turned the game with a decisive late assault, including 15 runs in the 18th over. He finished the chase alongside Tim David as RCB reached 206/5 with seven balls to spare.

Earlier, GT posted 205/3, powered by a brilliant century from Sai Sudharsan (100 off 58). After a dominant start from Sudharsan and Shubman Gill, RCB bowlers, led by Josh Hazlewood, pulled things back in the death overs to prevent a 220+ total, though GT still crossed the 200-run mark thanks to a late flourish from Jason Holder.

- ANI