Will Jacks put on a six-hitting spectacle in Ahmedabad to give Royal Challengers Bengaluru their third win of IPL 2024. Chasing 201, RCB remained in the hunt after the first half but then turned on the heat with Virat Kohli getting the best seat in the house. Will Jacks, who was struggling at 17 off 17 at point, hammered 83 off his next 24 balls to smash an incredible 41-ball ton that helped his side chase down 201 with four overs to spare.
Will Jacks’ late assault – he hit four fours and nine sixes in his last 17 balls – helped RCB ransack 58 off two overs when they needed 53 off 36 balls, and in the process he brought up a 41-ball 100. It was an innings that changed speeds in a blink of an eye, and had Kohli gesturing that he missed only a bucket of popcorn and a cold drink from the best seat in the house to witness the Will-storm.
Pitch and Toss
It’s very hot today, 62m and 64m square boundaries while the straight boundary is at 72m. The wicket looks pretty good, but it’s quite dry. It should spin a bit and will be consistent even if you’re batting first or second. 180 could be a good score batting first, but both teams will rely heavily on spin and changes in variations, reckon Michael Clarke and Graeme Swann, in their pitch report.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Faf Du Plessis won the toss and chose to bowl . RCB made one change bringing in Glenn Maxwell for Lockie Fergusson. Gujarat Titans batting first makes no change in the playing 11.
RCB’s powerplay squeeze as GT failed to capitalize
Before the start of Sunday’s fixtures, RCB had the second-worst economy rate in the powerplay, their 10.53 being only marginally better than Kolkata Knight Riders’ 10.68. But against GT, the RCB bowlers were on the money, and it all started in the first over. Swapnil Singh, playing only his second game in IPL 2024, deceived Wriddhiman Saha by flight, having him caught at short third in an attempt to go inside out.
Thereon, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan merely consolidated. Their attempts to free the shackles did not bear fruit as they could manage only one four in the last three overs of the powerplay to finish on 42 for 1. Glenn Maxwell, back in the XI for RCB, then preyed on Gill’s quiet start to have him caught brilliantly at long-on in a diving effort by Cameron Green.
In a tournament where teams have attempted to take full toll of the powerplay, Gujarat Titans could only muster 42. Wriddhiman Saha fell early in the first over and the RCB bowlers kept both Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan fairly quiet. Gill in particular was put under pressure following a string of low scores and he fell immediately after the powerplay.
Sai Sudarshan and Shahrukh inject momentum to GT innings in middle overs
For someone who hardly gets an opportunity to bat, Shahrukh Khan was handed a promotion to bat at No.4. He made good use of that chance and dealt fully in sixes in the middle overs. The returning Glenn Maxwell, Karn Sharma and Cameron Green were all clubbed for massive sixes. Sudarshan made up for his watchful start as the two Tamil Nadu players put on a show to entertain the crowd. Shahrukh’s maiden IPL fifty came off just 23 deliveries before an excellent delivery from Siraj brought an end to his stay.
At 45 for 2 in the seventh over, GT decided to send in Shahrukh at No. 4 and the move paid rich dividends. He got going straightaway, sweeping Maxwell over long-on for six before pulling a not-so-short one between long-on and deep midwicket for four. Shahrukh was asked to be the disruptor and he essayed that role to perfection. He was severe on Karn Sharma, hitting him for two sixes in two overs, which put him out of the attack. He then hit Green for 4, 4, 6 to bring up a 24-ball fifty, his first in the IPL.
Shahrukh’s carnage allowed Sai Sudarshan to change gears. He was on 18 off 16 when the powerplay ended, and on 32 off 23 at the 10-over mark. He attacked Karn’s leg spin before putting away an-almost-perfect yorker from Mohammed Siraj to bring up his half-century off 34 balls. Titans managed to score 106 in the middle overs (7 to 16), the most they have in the phase this season. In fact, GT scored 86 off just 45 balls through the time Shahrukh was in the middle.
Sai Sudarshan helps Titans breach 200 run mark
Even after Shahrukh’s dismissal – castled by a reverse-swinging full delivery from Siraj – Sai Sudarshan did not relent. In his next 15 balls, he scored 34 and was particularly severe on spin – a strike rate of 205 (41 off 20) as opposed to 153.57 (43 off 28) against the quicks. However, the 51 GT managed at the death did seem a tad underwhelming.
With Shahrukh departing just before the final flourish, Sudarshan took charge at the death. Having brought up his fifty off 34 balls, the left-hander smashed Maxwell for a six before taking on Green for a hat-trick of boundaries. The highlight of the phase was a terrific lap over the keeper’s head for a six. Just when it appeared like the Titans would finish below 200, David Miller hit one over the ropes off the final ball to breach the landmark.
The ideal start as Virat Kohli spins it the RCB way
Looking at the standard that has been set this year, 63 might not look daunting but that was enough given what they were chasing. RCB needed a boundary-laden powerplay and they got one with both Kohli and Faf du Plessis beginning in style. Du Plessis in particular was severe in his approach and raced to 23 off 9 and Titans had to introduce Sai Kishore into the attack to get rid of the RCB skipper.
However, Kohli, whose game against spin has been under the scanner for a while now, took on Rashid Khan first and then hammered Sai Kishore for back-to-back sixes to ensure the powerplay ended on a good note.
Faf du Plessis targeted Azmatullah Omarzai in the third over of the chase, hitting him for 6, 6, 4 – a sequence that ended with a scoop over the wicketkeeper. But R Sai Kishore, introduced in the fourth over, managed to have him hole out to deep midwicket to break the opening stand. That did not deter Kohli, who lofted Rashid Khan over his head before hitting two sixes in two balls off Sai Kishore’s next.
It looked like Sai Kishore had managed to deceive him in the flight but Kohli’s loft over wide long-off just evaded a leaping David Miller, before he firmly flicked the next one cleanly over wide long-on. He used the sweep to good effect, taking 22 off the shot in six attempts. That Jacks was still only coming to grips with the surface and GT’s spinners at the other end seemed to have little effect on Kohli, who slashed one through backward point to race away to a 32-ball fifty.
Sixes, sixes and more sixes as Will Jacks cuts loose in the end to guide emphatic win to RCB in 16 overs
To even think that Will Jacks was struggling at the start might sound bizarre. But that’s what it was with Kohli keeping the chase going. The opener showed no visible signs of any weakness against spin in terms of intent as he not only rotated the strike to perfection but also regularly targeted Rashid and Noor Ahmed for boundaries. In the process, he brought up a 32-ball fifty and set himself a massive second half. But that second half simply belonged to one man as Kohli turned into a happy spectator.
A six and a four off Mohit Sharma ticked it all off for Will Jacks. Will Jacks then smashed a six each off Sai Kishore and Noor Ahmed to set himself up. While RCB were definitely favourites at that stage as they needed 53 from 36 with nine wickets in hand, no one saw that climax coming their way.
From that point, the game was done and dusted in a matter of 12 deliveries. Will Jacks took on Mohit again for three sixes in an over that saw the pacer concede 29. In the next over, even Rashid couldn’t stop that carnage as Will Jacks went 6,6,4,6 to move to 94 in stunning fashion. RCB needed one more run to win the game and Will Jacks had one crack at Rashid in that over to not only finish off the game but also get to his hundred. He did that in style with his 10th big hit that stunned the home team.
The only four Will Jacks had to his credit before the tenth over was a flashy outside edge after not picking Noor Ahmad’s wrong’un. Mohit Sharma’s introduction only helped him unleash his full range. He thwacked one over deep midwicket before smacking a slower one over extra cover. Will Jacks then muscled Sai Kishore and Noor over long-on and deep square leg respectively in successive overs as he moved from a run-a-ball 16 to 44 off 29 inside four overs.
Will Jacks just upped the destruction a level in Mohit’s second over, which went for three sixes – including one off a no-ball – and two fours as RCB came within touching distance. Will Jacks then went 6, 6, 4, 6, 6 to complete his century as well as RCB’s third win in ten outings and a net-run-rate boost.
Virat Kohli had to take a backseat this evening despite showcasing his hitting prowess against spin. In the process, he became the first batter to go past 500 runs this season. He has done it seven times now, the joint-most in IPL history.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Shubman Gill the loosing skipper said :
“I think it was great hitting by them (Kohli and Jacks.) We need to come up with better plans in the next match, also need to execute them. When you are batting you can always think of scoring 15-20 runs more. We thought 200 was a good enough total for us, unfortunately it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to. We were not able to pick up wickets in the middle overs, I think that was the turning point for us,”
Faf Du Plessis the winning skipper said:
“I thought it was a really good wicket. When we bowled first, we felt like it certainly was a score that we could chase, obviously not 16 overs. It feels like we’ve made some real progress in both departments. We were way off in the beginning of the tournament, but it feels like there’s confidence in the group and you can see that in both bowling and batting,”
“The guys are doing a really good job. At the moment and the way T20 game is … when you look at the score and you think, “bowlers, what are you doing?”,” he stated.
“But it’s not actually the case. The game has changed so much. Especially that game against Kolkata, for me was probably a line in the sand moment for us as a team where the score was 220 but I felt like that’s the first time we bowled to what we wanted to bowl this season. The bowlers took some great confidence from that night and you can see the following performance has been really good. We are doing the basics much better now,” he added.
Will Jacks Player of the Match for his brilliant 100 of 41 balls said :
“Amazing feeling right now. Faf and Virat got us off to a very good start. I struggled early on, but Virat kept his intensity up and gave me the chance to find my rhythm. Once we had the time-out, we said, “let’s get two really good overs here and we win the game.” Once that happened, I just kept going and amazing feeling right now. I was trying to be positive (against spin early on), was just struggling,”
“I was trying to overhit the ball, probably little bit tensed. Once I got one away off Mohit, I relaxed, got into my innings and then just trusted myself. Next game, hopefully I do that earlier. (Batting with Kohli) It’s amazing, he’s a legend of the game and is someone everyone looks up to,” he stated.
“To spend some time in the middle is a great feeling a huge learning curve. When I go away from the IPL, I’ll learn so much from batting with him and playing with him. I’ll try to take it all on board. I need to be a bit more adaptable at the beginning of my innings and get myself in a little bit quicker. I was lucky today because 17 off 17 is not going to win you many games. The other guys around me saved me earlier today,” he added.
Phew! A dominating win for Bengaluru. Chasing 200, they were never really under any sort of pressure. Faf got off them to a brisk start and Kohli became the aggressor after the captain’s dismissal as RCB scored 63 off the powerplay. Will Jacks didn’t look comfortable against spin early on and Kohli ensured that the scoring rate was in the vicinity of 10 RPO.
At the halfway stage, the visitors were 98/1 and Jacks was going at run-a-ball (16 off 16). He struck a six off Mohit in the 11th over but it was still Kohli doing the bulk of the scoring as the Orange Cap holder yet another half-century. Will Jacks went berserk against Mohit in the 15th over and then against Rashid Khan. He hit sixes for fun and GT had no answers against him. Will Jacks scored 83 runs off his last 24 balls as RCB romped home with 4 overs to spare.
RCB strengthened their batting by bringing in Maxwell but they needed just their top three to hunt down GT’s total. The hosts were slow to get off the blocks in the powerplay. The TN duo of Shahrukh & Sai stitched a superb partnership and then Miller applied the finishing touches to take the team’s total to 200. RCB batsmen vs GT spinners was always going to be the key battle of this encounter.
When Sai Kishore removed Faf, Gujarat would have fancied their chances. Noor bowled better than what his bowling figures say, especially to Jacks but the latter was lucky to get away. And once Will Jacks found his rhythm, there was no stopping him. RCB are still at the bottom of the table but they have now won two in a row. Gujarat, on the other hand, have lost two on the bounce.
They take on each other again, this time at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. So expect another run-fest. These two teams have a very good break though with a five-day gap between the games. While RCB remain 10th and are still unlikely to make a late dash into the playoffs, Titans need a win badly to remain in the hunt.