RCB show Will to win

Ahmedabad, April 28

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 in the IPL here today.

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 a 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.

Put in to bat, Shahrukh Khan (58 off 30) had made full use of his promotion in the batting order while Sai Sudharsan (84 not out off 49) stayed till the end to guide Titans to 200/3. Batting at No. 4, Shahrukh teamed up with Sudharsan to give Gujarat a much needed push after a tepid start. The duo shared an 86-run stand off 45 balls.

RCB came out to bat in the scorching Ahmedabad heat with Glenn Maxwell returning to their playing XI from a “mental and physical health” break. Titans introduced spin very early and Kohli was up to the task. Thereafter, Kohli did not need to do much as Jacks put the Titans bowlers to sword. RCB, who are enduring another tough season, picked up their third win in 10 games while Titans suffered their sixth loss in 10 matches. The Faf du Plessis-led team seemed to have finally found some momentum, having picked up back-to-back wins. — PTI 

Brief scores

• GT: 200/3 in 20 overs (Sudharsan 84*, Shahrukh 58); RCB: 206/1 in 16 overs (Jacks 100*, Kohli 70*)
• CSK: 212/3 in 20 overs (Gaikwad 98, Mitchell 52) vs SRH: 134 all out in 18.5 overs (Markram 32; Deshpande 4/27)

Saturday’s results

• DC: 257/4 in 20 overs (Fraser-McGurk 84, Stubbs 48*) vs MI: 247/9 in 20 overs (Tilak 63, Hardik 46; Salam 3/34)
• LSG: 196/5 in 20 overs (Rahul 76, Hooda 50; Sandeep 2/31) vs RR: 199/3 in 19 overs (Samson 71*, Jurel 52*)