Mumbai  (TIP)- A fired-up Virat Kohli roared back to form with a fine half-century as Royal Challengers Bangalore stayed alive in the IPL playoffs race with a thumping eight-wicket win over table-toppers Gujarat Titans here on May 19. This was after skipper Hardik Pandya scored a gritty 47-ball 62 to lift Gujarat to a competitive 168/5 after opting to bat. Kohli (73 off 54) and captain Faf du Plessis (44 off 38) shared a match-winning 115-run opening stand before Glenn Maxwell (40 not out) went ballistic to ensure the team got home in 18.4 overs.

It took a long and winding road, but the big one did finally come along. And in their last league game where RCB couldn’t afford another off-day. Kohli’s 73 (54b, 8×4, 2×6), his second half-century this season, drove RCB to an eight-wicket victory at Wankhede Stadium against toppers Gujarat Titans (GT). It keeps them in the playoffs race with 16 points (Delhi Capitals, on 14, have a game in hand with a superior run rate).

Chasing GT’s 168/5, anchored by Hardik Pandya’s watchful 47-ball unbeaten 62, the former RCB captain dished out a typical Virat-like innings filled with glorious shots. A couple of drives off Mohammed Shami straight and over covers got him started, before a misjudged spill by Rashid Khan at deep square leg handed him the stroke of fortune he so desperately yearned throughout the season.

Having got that luck, there was no looking back. Even Rashid—who has troubled him in the past—was not spared, with Kohli using his feet for a sublime four straight back and then clearing his left leg to deposit him over midwicket. That shot got Kohli to his season’s second fifty. His first, also against GT, took 45 balls. This one came off a breezy 33.

Skipper Faf du Plessis played his part in the opening act as the duo raced to a 115-run stand in 87 balls. Thus, even though Rashid dismissed du Plessis on 44 and eventually had Kohli—who completed 7,000 runs for RCB during the knock—stumped in the 17th over, the job was nearly done. Glenn Maxwell (40*, 18b), with his straight-hitting power and reverse-sweeping touch, got them home with more than an over to spare.

RCB set the tone for their must-win game with a fine show on the field. After an expensive first over in which Wriddhiman Saha took Siddarth Kaul for 14 runs, Maxwell pulled off a brilliant one-handed catch to his right at second slip as the in-form Shubman Gill fell cheaply to Josh Hazlewood. Matthew Wade took a liking to his compatriot and clobbered the pacer towards midwicket, but fellow Aussie Maxwell got him leg-before wicket.