Marauding Jacks shows RCB still has the will
The Englishman’s 41-ball ton and his unbroken 161-run stand with Kohli help the side rout Titans with four overs and nine wickets to spare; Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh’s half-centuries go in vain
The Indian Batting League — also known as the Indian Premier League — continues to make the bowlers question their wisdom of opting for their profession.
Another score of 200 or more was chased down with ridiculous ease on Sunday. Put in to bat, Gujarat Titans had made 200 for three, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru stormed past that total with four overs and nine wickets to spare to post its third win, and the second in as many games.
That man who has mastered the art of chasing was there till the end. And Virat Kohli played brilliantly, but he was overshadowed at the Narendra Modi Stadium by Will Jacks.
The Indian superstar didn’t mind that at all; he didn’t hide his emotion when he watched Will Jacks completing his stunning hundred with a six, the only way to reach the landmark, as just one was required at that time.
Kohli (70 n.o., 44b, 6x4, 3x6) and Jacks (100 n.o., 41b, 5x4, 10x6) put on 166 for the unnished second wicket. That was after Kohli and captain Faf du Plessis raced to 40 within four overs.
Jacks may have taken some time to get going; he was on 16 o as many balls after 10 overs. His partner had by that time reached another fty, this time o 32 balls. The Englishman soon tore into the GT attack.
After hitting Mohit Sharma for a six and a four in the 11th over, he targeted
Staging a recovery
Earlier, it took an 86-run stand from the two Tamil Nadu batters B. Sai Sudharshan (84 n.o., 49b, 8x4, 4x6) and M. Shahrukh Khan (58, 30b, 3x4, 5x6) to recover from 45 for two in 6.4 overs.
The ploy to send Shahrukh at No. 4 worked, but his big hits were to be upstaged by Jacks’.
Ruturaj Gaikwad might have missed out on a welldeserved second consecutive ton, but the Chennai Super Kings skipper regaled the sell-out crowd with a scintillating 98 (54b, 10x4, 3x6) to power his side 212 for three against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday.
The skipper was well supported by Daryl Mitchell (52, 32b, 7x4, 1x6), who nally found form as they combined to forge a 107run stand for the second wicket. Later, Shivam Dube (39 n.o., 20b, 1x4, 4x6) gave the innings the nal ¡ourish.
Asked to bat rst, Ajinkya Rahane struggled yet again before holing out in the deep, while Mitchell struggled with timing at the start of his innings on a pitch where the ball did not come onto the bat easily.
Showing the way
It was left to the skipper to set the team on course, and the 27-year-old led from the front with scintillating strokeplay.
Like his knock against Lucknow Super Giants a few days ago, Ruturaj appeared to be batting on a dierent surface as he oozed class with delightful shots, relying on timing rather than power.
Whether giving himself room to smash left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed inside-out or slicing Bhuvneshwar Kumar behind point or sending a copybook cover drive to the ropes, Ruturaj easily peppered the o-side fence. He got to his half-century in style when he pulled Pat Cummins over mid-wicket for his rst six.
At the other end, Mitchell slowly found his bearings and struck to his strength of going down the ground, with success — the best shot being a lofted six
Taking charge
Even as Ruturaj was tiring, Dube took the baton from his captain and smashed T. Natarajan for a couple of sixes to get going, and the duo added 74 for the third wicket. In the nal over, Ruturaj found the midwicket elder when he tried to slog Natarajan and fell two short of a ton, but not before putting his side in a strong position.