New Zealand cricketer Kane Williamson explained where the Royal Challengers Bengaluru had faltered as they lost their first IPL 2025 game at home to the Gujarat Titans by eight wickets on Wednesday. Gujarat had comfortably chased down RCB’s target of 170 with eight wickets in hand and 13 balls still left, thanks to batting heroics from Jos Buttler (who scored an unbeaten 73 off 39 balls) and Sai Sudarshan (49). RCB’s former star Mohammed Siraj ended with figures of 3 for 19 to be the player of the match.
Mohammed Siraj of Gujrat Titans appealing for a wicket during the RCB vs GT IPL 2025 match. (Photo: Sportzpics for IPL)
Williamson, while analysing the RCB versus GT game, said that Bengaluru had made a critical error.
“There’s a growing trend in the IPL where teams are constantly aiming for high totals, especially at venues like Bengaluru and Hyderabad, where big scores seem achievable. But sometimes, in the pursuit of those high totals, you can get ahead of yourself,” Williamson said on JioStar.
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Williamson continued: “After losing a couple of early wickets, it’s important to consolidate and build a partnership. If you have wickets in hand, the last 10 overs can be really productive, going at 14 runs per over or more. Perhaps, RCB might reflect on this game and feel that if they had batted together for a few more overs, they could have set themselves up better. They played incredibly well in the first two games, but they might look back and think that a different approach in the middle overs could have put them in a stronger position on this wicket, which had some assistance for seam bowlers.”
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After the result, RCB fell to third spot in the IPL standings while Gujarat Titans are fourth. Both teams have the same results so far: winning two games and losing one each.
