This whirlwind knock of Jitesh helped RCB to secure a spot in the Qualifier 1
Tom Moody, the former Indian Premier League (IPL) winning coach with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), has elected the blazing knock of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma as the finest of this season. He notched up an astonishing 85 not-out off just 33 balls at a blistering strike rate of 257.57 against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) last night.
“The innings is, for me, the innings of the IPL this season by a stretch. We’ve seen some great knocks from young and old. But this one, wow! Quite remarkable!” opined Moody.
The former Australia player acknowledged how the RCB wicketkeeper-batter stood tall under pressure. He fought against all odds to secure a top-two finish for his franchise to get an extra shot in the IPL 2025 knockouts.
“The team was totally against it – backs against the wall, Kohli in the sheds, [Phil] Salt in the sheds. There was significant headwind, but he just ignored it all and just took the game apart. He not only took the game apart, he played smartly, just the way he went about it was like he’d been there and done it before many, many times”, he said in an ESPN Cricinfo show.
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Last night’s clash, which was also the final league-stage fixture of this season, was a must-win match for the Bengaluru outfit to avoid playing in the eliminator. However, they conceded a mammoth 227 to LSG after electing to field first at the Ekana Stadium.
Coming into the chase, RCB openers Salt and Kohli provided a crucial start to the innings with their 19-ball-30 and 30-ball-54, respectively. But LSG made a comeback in the 12th over with Kohli’s dismissal, with RCB requiring 104 off 52 deliveries.
However, a scintillating finish from the stand-in skipper Jitesh, saw RCB make history and clinch a spot in the Qualifier 1. Former RCB player Mayank Agarwal, who replaced an injured Devdutt Padikkal in the camp, also contributed with a fiery 41-run knock off 23 balls.
The Bengaluru outfit won the match by 6 wickets with eight balls to spare. With this victory over LSG, they also became the first franchise to win all seven away matches in an IPL edition.
RCB finished the league stage in second place with nine wins in 14 matches. They will take on the Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1 in Mullanpur tomorrow.
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