England batter Jacob Bethell had previously not appeared for RCB in this year's IPL.

Indian Premier League, Bengaluru

• Gujarat Titans 205-3 (20 overs): Sudharsan 100 (58), Gill 32 (24)
• Royal Challengers Bengaluru 206-5 (18.5 overs): Kohli 81 (44), Padikkal 55 (27)

Royal Challengers won by five wickets.

Jacob Bethell made his first appearance in this season's Indian Premier League, but it was team-mate Virat Kohli who starred for Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets to go second in the table.

England's Bethell was brought in as a forced change, after an injury to compatriot Phil Salt, and introduced as an impact substitute as RCB looked to chase down Gujarat's 205-3 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The 22-year-old, whose participation in the IPL was defended by Kevin Pietersen amid criticism from Sir Alastair Cook over a lack of playing time, opened the batting alongside Kohli and struck three boundaries before falling to Mohammed Siraj for 14 from 10 balls.

Kohli himself was dropped by Washington Sundar on zero and made Gujarat pay with a superb 81 to ensure Sai Sudharsan's century was in vain.

With support from Devdutt Padikkal, who hit 55 from 27 balls, Kohli kept the home side firmly in the chase. When Kohli finally fell to Jason Holder, they needed just 52 runs from 38 balls and Krunal Pandya's 12-ball 23 took them home with seven balls to spare.

Earlier, Sudharsan had scored a sublime 100 from 58 balls as he became the fastest player to reach 2,000 runs in the IPL - doing so in just 47 matches. Shubman Gill provided support as they reached 128 without loss in the 13th over before the Gujarat captain was dismissed by Suyash Sharma for 32 from 24 balls.

But Gujarat's inability to accelerate in the second half of their innings proved costly again, leaving them seventh in the table with three wins from seven matches.

Meanwhile, RCB are second with a fifth win from seven games and sit one point behind leaders Punjab Kings, who have a game in hand.

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