Rajat Patidar's blazing 93 sends RCB into their fifth IPL final

Royal Challengers Bengaluru cruised to their second consecutive IPL final, their fifth in all, with a 92-run demolition of Gujarat Titans in Dharamsala. After Rajat Patidar's unbeaten 93 set up RCB's mammoth total of 254, the pacers wreaked havoc and reduced GT to rubble in the Powerplay, turning this Qualifier 1 clash into a one-sided encounter, notwithstanding Rahul Tewatia's resistance with the bat.

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 254/5 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 93* (33), Virat Kohli 43 (25), Krunal Pandya 43 (28); Jason Holder 2-39) beat Gujarat Titans 162 all out in 19.3 overs (Rahul Tewatia 68 (43), Jos Buttler 29 (11); Jacob Duffy 3-39, Rasikh Salam Dar 2-24, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-28) by 92 runs.

Rajat Patidar with arguably the knock of his career. On 20 off 12, he got a reprieve as Kagiso Rabada dropped a catch. Thereafter, there was no looking back as the RCB skipper plundered sixes – nine in all – at will, with his unbeaten 33-ball 93 powering the defending champions to a whopping 254. Having lost half their side in the Powerplay, GT lost even the slim chance they stood.

Intent in the Powerplay

RCB were asked to bat first and the first shot was a statement of intent from Venkatesh Iyer, who punched Mohammed Siraj through the covers off the very first ball. He picked up two more boundaries although Rabada troubled Virat Kohli with more bounce. Venkatesh ramped Rabada for a six but fell as he got a top-edge off a short ball, Shubman Gill taking a catch at mid-off.

Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal got going with lofts over mid-off. While Kohli struggled with timing, Padikkal accessed both sides for boundaries, with the lightning-quick outfield aiding batters. RCB raced to 50 in the first four overs, forcing Gill to use a bowler not named Siraj or Rabada in the Powerplay for the first time in eight games. An overthrow that traveled to the fence summed up GT's frustrations.

Holder double-strike wrests momentum back

Rashid Khan came on in the eighth over, marking the first over without a boundary. Jason Holder then revived memories of Kohli's dismissal earlier in the season as the latter hacked across the line and played on off the inside edge. Two deliveries later, Padikkal edged behind as GT started to pull things back. RCB managed just 23 runs in the four overs after the Powerplay.

The turning point came in the 14th over as Rabada shelled a chance at deep mid-wicket, shortly after Patidar got away with a leading edge. Kulwant Khejroliya, a surprising inclusion for his first game of the season, had a nightmare 15th over – a beamer, wide, misfield off free hits, and a front-foot no ball. 28 runs came off that over, swinging momentum firmly in favor of RCB.

Patidar whipped up a 21-ball fifty with a six. The shot of the innings saw him launch a back-of-a-length delivery off Rabada nonchalantly over cover as RCB rocketed past 200 in the 16th over. Prasidh Krishna nailed his yorkers and cleaned up Tim David but there was no stopping Patidar, who handed the crowd catching practice with three more sixes across the last two overs. 114 runs and 10 sixes off the last six overs underlined the carnage, with RCB recording the highest playoff score in the league's history.

Pacers orchestrate GT implosion

Sai Sudharsan hit the first two balls of the chase to the fence. But misfortune hit the Orange Cap holder in the third over as he creamed a cut to the fence, only for his bat to slip out of his hands before deflecting onto the stumps. Shubman Gill swung across the line for the ball to crash into his stumps. Jos Buttler began imperiously, smashing a four and a six off Bhuvneshwar before Josh Hazlewood cleverly disguised a knuckle ball to bowl him, sealing the game for all practical purposes.

GT lost two more in the Powerplay as Rasikh Salam Dar had Nishant Sindhu out caught and bowled, before Holder hacked one to mid-on. Rahul Tewatia, who had little to do with the bat all season, walked out to face the music in the Powerplay.

Tewatia fifty delays the inevitable

After the Powerplay, GT went through the motions. Washington Sundar upper-cut a Jacob Duffy delivery to deep third, while the Titans mustered 70 in the first 10 overs – six fewer than what RCB managed in the Powerplay alone. Rabada picked up a couple of boundaries before heaving a Krunal bouncer to Kohli. Tewatia picked up pace with an array of boundaries, typically accessing his fancied square leg region. He scooped Hazlewood before swiping one for a six.

A similar stroke raised his fifty. It looked as though GT would bat out their 20 overs but fittingly, it was Patidar who plucked an excellent catch running back at cover to end Tewatia's resistance at 68. The game went into the final over before Siraj swung the ball as Tim David completed a stunning sliding catch to seal RCB's ticket to the final.

Where do the teams head next?

RCB fly to Ahmedabad and await their opponent for Sunday's title clash. GT will make a pitstop at Mullanpur for Qualifier 2 on Friday (May 29), where they will face the winner of the SRH-RR Eliminator.