Good morning,
If you are an RCB fan, you are probably floating for the next few days. The final suddenly feels too far away, and one line perhaps refuses to leave your head: @I0$
If you're a GT fan, Monday's quiet must be far more preferable. But luckily, there's another shot at the final.
Here's Cricbuzz Pulse, your 2-min scan of the IPL-verse.
@B0$
Put in to bat, RCB smashed 254, @L0$, to make their second consecutive final
Captain Rajat Patidar played one of the great IPL knocks (33-ball 93*) on an up-and-down pitch
GT dropped Patidar twice, on 14 (Khejroliya) and on 20 (Rabada), in the same Prasidh Krishna over
GT's top-three, their strength, were all back in the pavilion inside the Powerplay
RCB hit GT with the pace quartet of Duffy, Bhuvneshwar, Rasikh and Hazlewood, all of whom combined to pick 8 of the 10 wickets
@B1$
Sai Sudharsan was out hit-wicket in the most bizarre way. After he flashed a cut shot, the bat slipped out of his hands, bounced and then landed on top of the stumps. It was the first GT wicket to fall as they set off to chase a record score, and it sort of set the tone.
@B2$
The @B3$ goes to Rajat Patidar, for talking about intent and then backing it up with a match-winning 93*
The @B4$ goes to Kohli, for picking his jaws off the floor when Patidar hit Rabada for a six over covers.
The @B5$ goes to GT's middle order, who were expected for once but were MIA again.
The @B6$ goes to Kohli for taking us back to Adelaide 2014 with a cracking swivelling pull shot off Rabada.
@B7$
In a @L1$ with Cricbuzz, Rajat Patidar had revealed ahead of the season that he loves batting against pace more than spin. It's a line that hits harder now. Mo Bobat revealed after the game that he had called Patidar a @L2$ last season, a tag that "got him quite annoyed". Patidar seems to have spent this season quietly dismantling it, with Bobat praising his "really sound basics" and "fearless intent" after another "pretty special" knock in the Qualifier. This innings had both, the spin hitting we know and the authority against pace, best captured in that back-foot six off Rabada. It was a complete T20 knock, and maybe a reminder that the conversation around him needs to move on.
@B8$
Rajat Patidar said attacking GT's bowlers was "not a clear plan" but clarified that RCB wanted to show through "body language that we are coming for you."
Shubman Gill pointed to where it slipped, admitting GT were "not up to the mark" under pressure and that their fielding "was not at par," which hurt them in key moments.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar described RCB as "data informed" but not dependent on it, and credited "men behind the scenes" for him executing his plans to perfection.
@B9$
Rajat Patidar in IPL playoffs: 6 innings, 338 runs, average 112.66, strike rate 193.14
@B10$
There is now a strong working theory that RCB's real edge this season is not tactics, not depth, but hair. Lots of it. Patidar, Tim David, Suyash, Krunal, even Venky. Birdies say other franchises are taking notes. Players may soon be informally advised to reduce haircut frequency over the next 10 months, with talks of sponsored hair-care kits to maintain those long locks in the offseason. If long hair equals wins, nobody is taking chances.
@B11$
RR take on SRH in @L3$ with a 2-0 head-to-head in SRH's favour this season. SRH's strength is well distributed through the batting order, with far stronger returns from Nos. 3 and 4 compared to RR, who have leaned heavily on explosive Powerplays from the Jaiswal-Sooryavanshi opening duo. @L4$ will be sustaining that momentum in New Chandigarh, where the larger boundaries tend to slow scoring once the field spreads.
@B12$
A teenager will be the headline act on a night full of stars.
