‘Good powerplay could have made it chasable’: Shubman Gill reflects on GT’s heavy defeat against RCB

DHARAMSALA (Himachal Pradesh): Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill reflected that they fell short against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru mainly because they couldn’t make full use of the Powerplay after his side faced a 92-run defeat in Qualifier 1 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) at Dharamsala on Tuesday.

Gill pointed out that the pitch and outfield were excellent for batting, and a strong opening start would have made the big chase realistic. A magnificent spell from the pacers and a sensational knock from skipper Rajat Patidar guided defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their second consecutive IPL final, as they defeated Gujarat Titans by 92 runs at Dharamsala on Tuesday.

“I mean, it’s all about getting a good start. If you get a good power play, and on a ground like this, we know the ball travels, and the outfield is also very quick. So if you had gotten off to a good start in the power play, any target with the kind of way the wicket was playing and the kind of ground that we were playing at, it could have been chaseable,” Shubman Gill said after the match.

Gill also said he was not surprised by how the pitch behaved. He felt GT were in a good position until around the 12th-13th over while bowling in the first inning, but pointed out that poor fielding, missed catches, and below-par ground fielding cost them momentum and contributed to the defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

“(Surprised with the way the pitch behaved?) I mean, not really. I think we were going pretty well up until the 12th, 13th over, and I don’t think our fielding was at par, dropping a couple of catches, and then our ground fielding was not up to the mark,” he added.

With this win, RCB will be taking a shot at their second successive IPL title. GT, despite their loss, will get a chance at redemption as they will play the winner of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) vs Gujarat Titans (GT) eliminator for the second final spot in the Qualifier two on Friday.

RCB put on 254/5 on the back of fiery performances from skipper Rajat Patidar (93* in 33 balls, with five fours and nine sixes), Virat Kohli (43 in 25 balls, with five fours and a six) and Krunal Pandya (43 in 28 balls, with five fours and two sixes).

In the chase, GT’s batting fell like a pack of cards, with Rahul Tewatia (68 in 43 balls, with eight fours and four sixes) and Jos Buttler (29 in 11 balls, with three fours and two sixes) being the only ones crossing the 20-run mark as GT skittled out for 162 runs.

Jacob Duffy (3/39) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/28) broke through GT’s consistent top-order, and it was only downwards for the Titans from there. (ANI)