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Cricket

'Still alive' - Kohli special keeps Bangalore alive in playoff race

Bangalore continue to remain in the race to the playoffs. The 67th match of the Indian T20 League 2022 saw them beat Gujarat by eight wickets

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Jennifer
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'Still alive' - Kohli special keeps Bangalore alive in playoff race

Bangalore are alive, and continue to remain in the race to the playoffs. The 67th match of the Indian T20 League 2022 saw the Faf du Plessis-led side beat Gujarat by eight wickets. This win has enabled them to have a chance of making it to the playoffs. The Bangalore-based franchise will now be keenly watching the game between Mumbai and Delhi, and would hope that the Rishabh Pant-led side doesn't win.

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As for the game on Thursday, Gujarat had a rare bad day on the field. Nevertheless, the law of averages has to catch up to them sooner or later. After winning the toss, the Gujarat-based franchise decided to bat first. Shubman Gill had to prematurely depart to the pavilion in the third over.

Matthew Wade's poor form continued as he was dismissed for 16. It was a controversial LBW decision as the Aussie felt that he edged the ball, but the replays showed otherwise. Wade was visibly frustrated with the decision as well. Fortune didn't favour Wriddhiman Saha either as he was run-out in the ninth over of the first innings. He scored a 22-ball 31. After which, David Miller joined hands with Hardik Pandya to put on a 61-run partnership before the Proteas batter was dismissed by Wanindu Hasaranga.

However, Gujarat's skipper Hardik Pandya scored an unbeaten 62 off 47 balls. This propelled the Gujarat-based franchise to 168-5 in the first innings. Post which, the pressure was on Bangalore's batters as they had to chase this total, and couldn't afford any mistakes.

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Thus, the Bangalore openers looked positive, and took the attack to the opposition. Amidst a lean patch, Virat Kohli finally came to the party as he scored a wonderful half-century. He scored 73 from 54 balls. Bangalore's skipper Du Plessis looked superb as well. He scored 44 off 39 deliveries.

A few silent overs resulted in things tightening up to an extent. Nevertheless, they went on to chase their target with eight balls to spare. Glenn Maxwell scored an 18-ball 40. This is Bangalore's eighth win in 14 games. As for Gujarat, this is their fourth loss of the 2022 edition. Hence, Bangalore will now need Mumbai to beat Delhi to qualify for the playoffs. Several fans took to Twitter to speak about the game.

Here are some of the Tweets from today's game:

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