IPL 2025, all-round GT hand RCB their maiden defeat: Stats
What's the story
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) suffered their maiden defeat in the IPL 2025 season.
RCB were beaten by Gujarat Titans (GT) in match 14 of the ongoing season on Wednesday in Bengaluru.
Notably, RCB were 42/4 in the seventh over before Liam Livingstone's half-century and crucial contributions from Tim David and Jitesh Sharma helped them recover to post 169/8.
Mohammed Siraj claimed three wickets for the Titans.
In response, blistering knocks from Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler helped GT win (170/2).
Top-order collapse
Early wickets for GT against RCB
GT's decision to bowl first paid off as they had RCB at 35/3 inside the powerplay.
Siraj, who was hit for a four by Virat Kohli, saw his teammate Arshad Khan dismiss the latter soon after, with a well-placed delivery caught at deep-backward square leg.
Thereafter, Siraj knocked over Devdutt Padikkal.
Phil Salt, who was dropped by Buttler and had a run-out chance missed by Siraj, lost his wicket to the latter's 145.9kph delivery that knocked over his off pole.
Middle-order revival
Livingstone and Jitesh's partnership boosts RCB
After a shaky start (42/4), Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma stitched a crucial partnership for RCB.
They added 52 runs off just 38 balls for the fifth wicket, with Jitesh taking the aggressive route.
However, R Sai Kishore broke their momentum by dismissing both Jitesh and Krunal Pandya in quick succession.
Despite this, Livingstone kept attacking Rashid Khan hitting him for three sixes in one over and 5 in total.
End innings
RCB finish strong in the final overs
RCB ended their innings on a high, scoring 64 runs in the last five overs. David was instrumental in this surge, contributing heavily to the team's total.
He scored a brilliant 32 runs before getting out on the last ball of the innings. His knock had three fours and two sixes.
This late blitz helped RCB set a challenging target for GT.
Siraj
Siraj haunts former side RCB with 3/19
Right-arm pacer Siraj clocked 3/19 from his 4 overs. Siraj is closing in on 100 IPL scalps. He has raced to 98 wickets at 29.88 (ER: 8.65).
In three matches this season, he owns 5 scalps at 21.40.
Overall in T20s, Siraj has claimed 165 wickets from 144 matches at 25.65 (ER: 8.23). As per ESPNcricinfo, Siraj has now taken 29 T20 wickets in Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium at 24.72.
Kishore
Sai Kishore impresses with 2/22; Prasidh claims 1/26
Kishore finished with 2/22 from his 4 overs. He bowled 11 dot balls.
In 13 IPL matches, Kishore now owns 19 wickets at 18.26. His economy rate is 8.06.
Overall in T20s, he has claimed 86 scalps from 73 matches at 18.27. His economy rate is 5.98. He has claimed three four-fers in the 20-over format.
Meanwhile, pacer Prasidh Krishna managed 1/26 from his 4 overs. He has now raced to 84 T20 scalps from 85 matches.
Livingstone
Livingstone smashes 54 versus GT, completes 1,000 IPL runs
Livingstone was part of two crucial stands for RCB alongside Jitesh and David.
His 40-ball 54 in the end had one four and 5 sixes. He has now raced to 1,018 runs from 42 IPL matches at 29.08. His strike rate is 161.07.
This was the Englishman's 7th IPL fifty. Livingstone has smoked 73 sixes in the tourney.
Overall in T20s, he has slammed 6,851 runs at 27.84. This was his 36th T20 fifty (100s: 2). He owns 416 sixes.
Vs Rashid
Livingstone creams Rashid Khan for 5 sixes
Livingstone hung in there and scored 24 runs from his first 28 balls before opening up.
Across two overs, he dispatched GT's Rashid Khan for 4 sixes, getting to his fifty off 39 balls. Mohammed Siraj dismissed him shortly thereafter.
All of Livingstone's 5 sixes in this contest, came off Rashid's bowling. The batter has now hammered the wrist-spinner for 7 sixes across 6 innings. He owns 66 runs from 39 balls (SR: 169.23). Rashid has dismissed him thrice.
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Key contributions from Jitesh and David
Jitesh scored a 21-ball 33, hitting 5 fours and a six. The 31-year-old has 775 IPL runs at 22.79. On the other hand, David was superb at the death. He ended up with an 18-ball 32. He has 713 IPL runs at 29.70 (SR: 172.63).
Bhuvi vs Gill
Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismisses Shubman Gill for fourth time in IPL
Veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the key scalp of GT captain Shubman Gill. GT were reduced to 32/1 after 4.4 overs with Gill departing for 14 runs.
Former Sunrisers Hyderabad stalwart, Bhuvi, has now dismissed Gill 4 times.
Across 11 IPL innings, Gill has scored 66 runs from 64 balls. He averages 16.50 with his strike rate being 103.12.
Bhuvi has bowled 32 dot balls in this match-up. Notably, the six on Wednesday was Gill's first against the right-arm pacer.
Sudharsan
Sudharsan misses out on 3rd successive fifty in IPL 2025
Sudharsan (49) looked in full flow and stitched a 75-run stand alongside Buttler for the 2nd wicket after adding 36 with Gill.
The southpaw hit 7 fours and a six in his 36-ball knock. He was dismissed in the 13th over by Josh Hazlewood.
Notably, he missed out on a third straight fifty in IPL 2025, having smashed 74 and 63 before this contest.
He has raced to 186 runs this season at 62 (SR: 157.62).
Buttler
86th T20 fifty from Buttler's blade
Buttler was magnificent, smashing a whirlwind 39-ball 73*. His knock had 5 fours and six sixes (SR: 187.18).
After sharing a 75-run stand with Sudharsan, Buttler got the job done adding an unbeaten 63 runs alongside Sherfane Rutherford (30*).
With his knock, Buttler now owns 3,748 runs from 110 IPL matches at 39.04. This was his 21st half-century (100s: 7).
Overall in T20s, he has 12,279 runs at 35.18. This was his 86th T20 fifty (100s: 8).
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GT's second biggest win while chasing (wickets remaining)
GT won the contest in 17.5 overs. As per Cricbuzz, this is GT's second biggest win while chasing - in terms of wickets remaining - after their 9-wicket win with 37 balls to spare against RR in Jaipur in 2023.
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A look at the points table
After three matches, GT have 4 points and are 4th with their NRR reading +0.807. RCB are third with 4 points (NRR: +1.149). Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals occupy the first two spots.