Royal Challengers Bengaluru keep their IPL 2024 playoff dreams alive with a massive nine-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans while Chennai Super Kings moved up to third in the points table with a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday. RCB rode brilliant knocks from Virat Kohli and Will Jacks to register their second victory on the trot. They remain at the bottom of the IPL 2024 points table even after the win but they can still qualify for the playoffs if they win all of their remaining matches. On the other hand, CSK moved up to the third spot with 10 points from 9 matches while Sunrisers Hyderabad fell to fourth with 10 points from 9 matches as well but an inferior Net Run Rate (NRR).
Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad missed his second successive IPL century by a whisker, while pacers Tushar Deshpande and Matheesha Pathirana decimated the Sunrisers Hyderabad batting as Chennai Super Kings won their IPL 2024 home game by 78 runs.
After Gaikwad scored a 54-ball 98 and shared a 107-run partnership with Daryl Mitchell (52) to give CSK a healthy 212/3, Deshpande (4/27) and Sri Lankan Pathirana (2/17) came up with match-winning bowling figures to dismiss SRH for 134 in 18.5 overs.
Deshpande took the wickets of opener Travis Head (13) and Anmolpreet Singh (0) in his first over before getting rid of Abhishek Sharma (15) and captain Pat Cummins (5), while Pathirana got the dangerous Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen to demolish SRH.
Earlier, Will Jacks slammed a sensational hundred while Virat Kohli upped his game in the middle overs as Royal Challengers Bengaluru outplayed Gujarat Titans by nine wickets.
Kohli (70 not out of 44), whose approach in the middle overs was questioned in the previous game, employed the sweep shot against the spinners to make a statement before Jacks (100 not out off 41) cut loose to gun down the 201-run target with as many 24 balls to spare.
Jacks went berserk in what turned out be the final over of the game, hammering as many as four sixes and four off Rashid Khan to close out the game much sooner than expected. The Englishman plundered as many as 10 sixes in his breathtaking effort.
(With PTI inputs)