Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell combine to keep RCB's playoff hopes alive

Kohli scored 73 runs from 54 balls to anchor his side's chase before Maxwell struck 40 runs off just 18 balls to seal the two points with eight balls to spare

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Gujarat Titans 168-5, Royal Challengers Bangalore 170-2 – Royal Challengers Bangalore won by eight wickets

Scorecard

Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell were on fire in Mumbai, steering Royal Challengers Bangalore to an eight-wicket win over Gujarat Titans and keeping their side's playoff hopes very much alive.

Chasing 168, Kohli anchored RCB’s innings, scoring 73 runs from 54 balls at the top of the order and sharing a 115-run first-wicket stand (87 deliveries) with skipper Faf du Plessis.

The latter was removed by Rashid Khan (caught Hardik Pandya) for 44 in the 15th over and 13 balls later, Kohli followed – but not before he'd added 31 runs with No.3 Maxwell.

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Glenn Maxwell

Kohli’s departure did little to phase the Australian allrounder, who crunched 21 runs from his next 10 deliveries as part of a 24-run stand with Dinesh Karthik to see RCB home with eight balls to spare. And boy, did he finish it off in style, dispatching Lockie Ferguson for three fours in the space of four balls in the penultimate over.

Rashid, Gujarat’s sole wicket-taker, returned figures of 2 for 32.

Earlier, Pandya had impressed with the bat for the Titans, scoring a brisk 62 runs from 47 deliveries at No.4 to help his side to 168 for 5 at close.

Wriddhiman Saha (31 off 22), David Miller (34 off 25) and Rashid (19 not out off six) also contributed with the bat while Wanindu Hasaranga was the standout performer with the ball for RCB, picking up 1 for 25. Josh Hazlewood (2 for 39) and Maxwell (1 for 28) were the other wicket-takers.

RCB’s win moves them up to fourth place, two points clear of Delhi Capitals, who face Mumbai Indians on May 20. The Indians have endured a poor tournament, including an eight-match losing streak, but with three wins in their past five matches, RCB will be praying Rohit Sharma’s resurgent side have one more victory up their sleeve.

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