Buttler serves a delight for GT, ends RCB's perfect start

Jos Buttler played one of his IPL specials to power Gujarat Titans to a solid 8-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on April 2.

The Englishman smashed an unbeaten 73 from 39 deliveries as GT made a target of 170 — for which RCB's middle order had to toil — look easy. When 'impact sub' Sherfane Rutherford lifted Josh Hazlewood for a six to score the winning runs, 13 balls were left in the innings.

It was a humbling experience for Rajat Patidar's RCB, who had been flying high with consecutive wins over holders Kolkata Knight Riders and former champions Chennai Super Kings.

The consistent Sai Sudarshan could not add to his pair of fifties but made a solid 49 off 36 after captain Shubman Gill fell for 14. Sudarshan and Buttler stitched a 75-run stand for the second wicket, which set the visitors on course for a famous win.

Earlier, after Gill won the toss, his bowlers ripped through the RCB top order before Liam Livingstone rescued them with a timely 54, taking them to a respectable 169/8.

Before the Englishman’s exploits, Arshad Khan took out Virat Kohli (7) with a tempting short delivery that sat up and forced the star batter into an undercooked pull, only to be caught in the deep. At the other end, former RCB player Mohammed Siraj came to haunt them by removing Phil Salt (14) and Devdutt Padikkal (4), both bowled. Captain Rajat Patidar was trapped leg before by Ishant Sharma, leaving RCB reeling at 42/4 at the end of the powerplay.

Livingstone took his time to settle down before hammering five sixes in his 40-ball 54, while Australian Tim David (32) and Jitesh Sharma (33) made valuable contributions. Siraj finished with 3/19 from his four overs against his former employers, while left-arm spinner Sai Kishore bagged a pair.

Prasidh Krishna continued his brilliant run of late with just 10 runs given away in his first three overs. Though the pacer was smashed for 16 in the 20th over, he had the last laugh, castling David in the last bowl. Meanwhile, Rashid Khan had another forgetful outing, going for 54 in his four overs, without a wicket.

Brief scores: RCB 169/8 in 20 overs (Livingstone 54, Jitesh 33, David 32, Siraj 3/19, Sai Kishore 2/22) lost to GT 170/2 in 17.5 overs (Buttler 73 not out, Sudharsan 49, Rutherford 30 not out)