The Gujarat Titans (GT) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by eight wickets in their IPL 2025 match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, April 2. With a fantastic unbeaten 73 from 39 balls showing from Jos Buttler and a fiery bowling spell from Mohammed Siraj against his previous team, it was a perfect spoiler to burst RCB’s homecoming party. GT secured the match with 13 balls to spare, chasing 170 runs, marking RCB’s first loss of the season.
RCB’s Batting Fails to Lift Late Resistance
RCB batted first after losing the toss, and they did not get anywhere on a pitch that offered assistance to pacers and spinners alike. The important players to find themselves dismissed early were Virat Kohli (7), Devdutt Padikkal (4), and Phil Salt (14) at the time, putting the hosts in a hunkered 42/4 within six overs. Mohammed Siraj, finally making his debut against RCB after having left the franchise, had a really terrific match, finishing with 3/19, including two vital wickets during the powerplay.
Brought in by Liam Livingstone after a gritty 54 off 40 balls, RCB had the support of Jitesh Sharma (33 off 21) and Tim David (32 off 18). While Livingstone struck three sixes off Rashid Khan in the slog overs, David brought in calculated runs as RCB closed their innings at 169/8. However, the disciplined bowling attack led by Sai Kishore (2/22) ensured that RCB could not recover from their dismal start.
Jos Buttler Steals the Show in the GT Chase
The Gujarat Titans started their chase rather tamely, mothering early with the loss of their captain, Shubman Gill, for just 14 runs. However, soon thereafter, Jos Buttler and Sai Sudharsan shaped up a decisive 75-run partnership in just 48 balls. Sudharsan made a fine contribution of 49 off 36 balls before getting out just short of his fifty.
Buttler had started IPL 2025 slowly, but certainly struck form in this match. He accelerated brilliantly towards the end after Sudharsan’s departure, hitting plenty of boundaries and sixes. Sherfane Rutherford joined Buttler towards the end, playing his part, scoring an unbeaten 30 off 18 balls. The two put on an unbroken partnership of 63 runs and sealed the chase comfortably in just 17.5 overs.
RBC’s bowlers failed to maintain the pressure while Buttler put the foot to the jugular with his aggressive stroke play. Despite some early breakthroughs made by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, RCB could not match up to GT’s batting artillery in the middle overs.
