As it happened: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Titans, IPL 2022, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Virat Kohli finally broke out of the funk, with 73 off 54 balls, his highest score this IPL, to keep Royal Challengers Bangalore’s campaign alive, but only just. Royal Challengers still need Delhi Capitals, who now have a superior net run rate than them, to lose their final league fixture to Mumbai Indians, if they are to sneak into the playoffs. Royal Challengers’ victory meant Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad were out of the reckoning for playoffs.

Kohli’s second half-century against Gujarat Titans - and only his second overall this season - formed the centerpiece of Royal Challengers’ successful pursuit of 169. Faf du Plessis simply rode in Kohli’s slipstream during a 115-run opening stand before holing out for 44 off 38 balls. Rashid also got rid of Kohli, in his next over, but the game was all but over by then. Glenn Maxwell got the job done with a flurry of boundaries along with Dinesh Karthik.

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Rashid returns to the attack and has du Plessis holing out, with RCB needing 54 off 33 balls. Rashid then hits the top of Maxwell's leg stump, but the bails don't come off. Instead, the ball rolls away for four byes. Rashid and Pandya have wry smiles on their faces. Drama at Wankhede. Time for the bails to go?

In the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, R Sai Kishore had an economy rate of 4.63 - the best among bowlers who had bowled at least 20 overs. In the 2020-21 tournament, the left-arm fingerspinner had an economy rate of 4.82 - the second-best with the same cut-off. Sai Kishore has now showed that he could do the job in the IPL too. He has bowled a boundary-less spell - 4-0-20-0 - earning the respect of both Kohli and du Plessis. Did Titans miss a trick by not bringing him into the attack earlier in the powerplay? Nevertheless, RCB are well on their way to hunt this down

He notches up a 34-ball half-century by shovelling Rashid Khan with his bottom wrist over wide long-on for six. Sid Monga points out that this is Kohli's first-ever six off Rashid. His innings is pure theatre, with the Wankhede crowd right behind him. RCB are 77.43% favourites to win this. They now need 83 off the last ten overs, with all ten wickets in the bag.

Kohli has dashed out of the blocks, reaching 20 off 12 balls. He pumped Shami over his head and then carved him over extra-cover. And when Shami got the ball to seam away, it didn't shave the outside edge. When Pandya seamed it in and cramped Kohli, the inside edge rolled past the stumps. When Kohli shovelled one in the air, Rashid, who was a few yards in at the square-leg boundary, dropped it. RCB are 40 for 0 in four overs.

They progress to 55 for 0 in six overs, with Kohli claiming 34 off 23. RCB are 67.65% favourites to win this game.

Saha is not on the field and in his injury-enforced absence, Wade has taken the gloves for Titans' defence. Star Sports reports that Saha had hurt his hamstring.

No Harshal, no big problem for RCB. Pandya and Rashid smash 34 off the last two overs, bowled by Kaul and Hazlewood, to haul Titans to 168 for 5 on a slow Wankhede track. Rashid got his trademark snake shot going and it did bite RCB. Hasaranga, though, reckons this is chaseable total. He tells Star Sports that the pitch flattened out in the second half of Titans' innings.

Miller was bashing spin on a slow, dry Wankhede track. He had taken Maxwell and Shahbaz for 23 off 11 balls. Hasaranga, though, returns in the 17th over and has Miller drilling a return catch for 34 off 25 balls. Credit needs to be given to Sid Kaul, too, who set things up with a four-run 16th over. Okay, so why are these guys operating at the death on a pitch that is ripe for Harshal's assortment of slower balls? Harshal hasn't returned to the field after splitting his webbing in the 13th over.

This is Maxwell's last over. After giving up only ten runs off his first three overs, he leaks 18 from his last. It was Miller who laid into him. When he pitched one in the slot and outside off, Miller extended his hands and launched him into the top tier over his head. Then, when Maxwell overcorrected his length, Miller swatted him over midwicket for a flatter six. At the other end, Pandya is on 35* off 28 balls. Titans are 109 for 3 in 14 overs.

Harshal Patel has sustained a right hand injury while trying to stop the ball in the infield. Harshal, bleeding from his bowling hand, walks off the field in the 13th over. He has bowled only one over so far this evening. No signs of him returning to the field. RCB physio Evan Speechly has a chat with Mike Hesson in the RCB dugout

Saha did the job for Titans in the powerplay once again, reaching 21 off 15 balls. He, however, slowed down once the fielding restrictions were lifted before his innings came to a grinding halt via a direct hit from du Plessis. Pandya tapped it to the left of mid-off and scampered across for an urgent single. Saha was late to respond and ball-watching didn't help him either. No such slip-ups from du Plessis as he swoops down on the ball and hits the bullseye. Titans are 62 for 3 in the ninth over. Predicted total: 162.

Wade's woeful run in the IPL continues as Maxwell pins him lbw for 16 in the last over of the powerplay. Wade shuffles across for a get-out-of-jail sweep, but is struck on the front pad in line with middle. Maxwell gets it to straighten enough from around the wicket and wins an lbw appeal from umpire Sadashiv Iyer. Wade reviews in vain. He thought he had hit the ball, and hence called for a review almost immediately, but UltraEdge detects nothing when bat meets ball. Side-on replays suggest a deflection, but there's no spike on Ultra Edge for the TV umpire Navdeep Singh to overturn the on-field out decision. A visibly frustrated Wade drags himself off the field. Titans are 38 for 2 in six overs. Predicted total: 153

Sid Kaul leaks 14 runs to Wriddhiman Saha in the first over. Shahbaz then gives up six in the second. What does Faf do? Turn to his banker bowler Hazlewood, who in isolation had a bad game against Punjab Kings. He puts it on a Test-match style fuller length and shifts his line wider of off. Gill jabs away from the body with hard hands and sends an outside edge that flies past the right of Maxwell at wide slip. Maxwell, however, throws himself to his right and comes down with a sensational one-handed grab

Virat Kohli is open to the idea of taking a break from cricket to "rejuvenate" himself mentally and get himself out of the lean patch he has been going through of late. At the same time, Kohli told Star Sports he was going through the "happiest phase" of his life and he was "batting well" despite struggling for consistent starts across formats. Winning the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup were his two main goals for 2022, he said. Click here to read more

Hardik Pandya says they want to test themselves batting first, in the lead-up to the playoffs. They make one change: Lockie Ferguson returns in place of Alzarri Joseph.

RCB also make one change, with the out-of-form Mohammed Siraj making way for Sid Kaul. This is Kaul's first game of the season and first T20 since November 2021. So, another retained player has dropped out of a XI.

Gujarat Titans: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Matthew Wade, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 R Sai Kishore, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Yash Dayal

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis (capt), 3 Rajat Patidar, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Mahipal Lomror, 6 Shahbaz Ahmed, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Wanindu Hasaranga, 10 Siddarth Kaul, 11 Josh Hazlewood