Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) secured an important win over table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) when the two sides met at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, May 19, for their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022's final league stage fixture. While Virat Kohli's exceptional 54-ball 73 was the highlight of the game, many fans pointed out the captaincy of Faf du Plessis as one of the key factors behind their crucial win in this crunch tie of the game.
RCB did not have the best of starts to the match, with Wriddhiman Saha getting the better of Siddharth Kaul, who was bowling the first over. They managed to dismiss Matthew Wade and Shubman Gill, in the powerplay, but Saha continued the onslaught, building a partnership with skipper Hardik Pandya.
Batting at 31 runs off 22 balls, Saha and Pandya were going strong when in the middle of the ninth over, which was being bowled by Harshal Patel, the veteran wicketkeeper-batter was brilliantly run-out by the RCB skipper Du Plessis. Pandya was on strike and the GT skipper pushed the past a diving extra cover. He set off immediately but Saha responded late. This was capitalised on by Du Plessis at mid-off, who was quick to the ball and nailed the direct hit at the striker's end. Saha was quite short of the crease.
His wicket spurred the RCB players into overdrive as GT lost wickets at regular intervals. None of the GT batters played consistent innings to give their captain some sort of support. Pandya went on to singlehandedly lead GT to a competitive total of 168 with his unbeaten 62 off 47 balls.
The chase turned out to be a comfortable one for RCB, who finished the match with eight balls and eight wickets to spare. Openers Du Plessis and Virat Kohli gave their side the perfect start and went on to build a partnership of 115 runs. While Kohli acted as the aggressor this time round with glimpses of his former self coming to the fore, Du Plessis anchored the innings with his 44 runs off 38 balls as RCB edged themselves closer to the victory.
Eventually, his wicket was taken by Rashid Khan in the 15th over, and although his contribution might not be telling, there is no denying that Du Plessis's role in the win was more crucial than usual.
