“If you have wickets in hand, the last 10 overs can be really productive”, Kane Williamson after RCB’s loss against GT
New Delhi [India] April 3 (ANI): Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson reflected on what Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) could do differently after the loss against Gujarat Titans (GT) on their home ground on Wednesday.
While speaking on Match Centre Live on JioHotstar, he suggested that while aiming for high totals is a valid strategy, it’s important to consolidate and build partnerships, especially after early wickets. He believed that RCB might have benefitted from a more calculated approach in the middle overs, which could have led to a stronger position.
“There’s a growing trend in the TATA IPL where teams are constantly aiming for high totals, especially at venues like Bengaluru and Hyderabad, where big scores seem achievable. But sometimes, in the pursuit of those high totals, you can get ahead of yourself. After losing a couple of early wickets, it’s important to consolidate and build a partnership. If you have wickets in hand, the last 10 overs can be really productive, going at 14 runs per over or more. Perhaps, RCB might reflect on this game and feel that if they had batted together for a few more overs, they could have set themselves up better. They played incredibly well in the first two games, but they might look back and think that a different approach in the middle overs could have put them in a stronger position on this wicket, which had some assistance for seam bowlers.” Jio Star expert Kane Williamson said while speaking on Match Centre Live on JioHotstar.
Gujarat Titans wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler’s not-out fifty crushed the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at their home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium, on Wednesday, as the visiting team secured a convincing win by eight wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
With this defeat, the Rajat Patidar-led team dropped to third place, while the Titans stayed in fourth place in the points table of the 18th edition of the lucrative league. Both teams currently hold four points after completing their three matches in the current tournament.
RCB was put to bat first by GT, who won the toss and opted to field. As ex-RCBian Mohammed Siraj (3/19) reduced RCB to 42/4, a 52-run stand between Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma (33 in 20 balls, with five fours and a six) and a 46-run stand for the seventh wicket between Livingstone (54 in 40 balls, with a four and five sixes) and Tim David (32 in 18 balls, with three fours and two sixes) helped RCB make 169/8 in their 20 overs.
Sai Kishore (2/22) and Prasidh Krishna (1/26) were also impressive with the ball. During the run-chase, GT lost their skipper Shubman Gill (14) early, but top knocks from Jos Buttler (73* in 39 balls, with five fours and six sixes), Sai Sudharsan (49 in 36 balls, with seven fours and a six) and Sherfane Rutherford (30* in 18 balls, with a four and three sixes) took GT to a win with 13 balls and eight wickets in hand. Siraj won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his spell.
