Holder, Gill power GT to four-wicket win over RCB

AHMEDABAD: Jason Holder was immense on the night, taking two wickets and three catches. Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler then backed his all-round prowess with handy cameos as Gujarat Titans sealed a nervy four-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in an IPL match here on Thursday.

Holder's two-wicket burst (2/29) and those sharp catches helped the Titans bowl out defending champions RCB for a modest 155 in 19.2 overs. But with Gill (43, 18b), Buttler (39, 19) and later Rahul Tewatia (27 not out, 17b) leading the charge, GT ended up at 158 for six in 15.5 overs.

RCB remained second in the table with 12 points, and GT too was static on fifth but added two valuable points to swell their tally to 10 after this game.

After the early departure of Sai Sudharsan, the Titans' charge to victory started with Gill's uncharacteristically aggressive knock of 43 off 18 balls (4x4, 3x6).

Taking on the new-ball attack, Gill hammered Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a four and a six before going after Josh Hazlewood, tearing into the Australian with three fours and two sixes in a 24-run over as GT raced to 36 without loss in just two overs.

On the other hand, Buttler, who was dropped on 1 by stumper Jitesh Sharma off Hazlewood, made RCB pay instantly. He scooped the very next ball cleanly for a six over fine leg and never looked back.

Buttler finished the powerplay in style with a four and a six as GT surged to 69 for 2.

He continued the charge after the field spread, smashing spinner Suyash Sharma for back-to-back sixes -- one straight down the ground and another sliced over long-off -- in a 17-run over.

But Gill fell to Bhuvneshwar as his powerful punch found Kohli inside the circle. The veteran pacer soon struck to jettison Buttler to cap a fine spell.

In the process, Bhuvneshwar reached 352 wickets, becoming only the second Indian bowler after Yuzvendra Chahal (391) to cross the 350-wicket mark in T20s.

Walking in at 111 for five in 10.3 overs, Holder gave a semblance of stability, launching a first-ball six off compatriot Romario Shepherd.

With the required rate never climbing beyond four an over, Holder and Tewatia kept it simple, before the Windies all-rounder got out for 12.

But Tewatia held his nerves to seal the chase as GT registered back-to-back wins.

Earlier, returning to the venue where they had lifted the title last season, RCB were cruising at a run rate in excess of 10 with Kohli leading the charge, smashing Kagiso Rabada for 21 runs in his opening over which included five fours in a row.

But Gill persisted with his strike bowler and the call paid off handsomely.

Rabada (1/38) struck back to remove Kohli for a blazing 28 off 13 balls, triggering a collapse as RCB lost wickets in a cluster through the middle phase.

Left-arm pacer Arshad Khan wrapped the tail and returned with 3/22.

From a strong 71/2 after seven overs, RCB slipped to 96/6 in 10.3 overs, losing Rajat Patidar (19), Jitesh Sharma (1), Tim David (9) and Krunal Pandya (4).

However, RCB stuck to their all-out attacking template despite the slide, something that seemed to have denied them 20-30 extra runs and they were bowled out in 19.2 overs.

Amid the collapse, Devdutt Padikkal looked set to anchor the innings, with Romario Shepherd playing second fiddle.

But the ever-reliable Rashid Khan produced a peach to clean up Devdutt for 40 (24 balls), a skidding delivery that cramped him for room and led to a chop-on. The wily Afghan returned with splendid figures of 2/19.

But the star cast was Holder, who dismissed Shepherd and Jitesh, besides taking excellent catches to see the back of Patidar, David and Krunal.

Holder first pulled off a brilliant running catch near the deep square boundary to dismiss Patidar, holding on to the skier despite almost colliding with Rabada.

He then dismissed Jitesh before completing two smart takes at short midwicket to remove David and Krunal, capping an outstanding all-round effort.

The other standout moment was the Kohli vs Rabada contest. Kohli smashed the Proteas pacer for five successive boundaries.

He began with a pull through midwicket, followed by a punch through mid-off, a crisp square drive, and a stylish cut through backward point.

Kohli then hammered Siraj for a flat six over mid-on to race to 28 off just 10 balls.

But Rabada had the final say. Tightening his line, the South African forced Kohli into a mistimed pull when he charged down and Rashid completed a good catch.