Jos Buttler admitted he was "pretty embarrassed" after dropping Phil Salt early in Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s innings, but he made up for it with a match-winning knock. The England wicketkeeper-batter smashed an unbeaten 73 off 39 balls as Gujarat Titans outclassed RCB by eight wickets in Match 14 of IPL 2025 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
I don't know (how it happened), pretty embarrassed. We know Salt is a dangerous player. I barely got a glove on it, and it hit me in the chest, so I was determined to score some runs. As a team, we did not field well but fielded poorly.
Despite Buttler’s early mistake, Salt was dismissed for 14 by Mohammed Siraj, who uprooted his stumps in the powerplay. With Virat Kohli (7) and Devdutt Padikkal (4) back in the dugout, RCB slumped to 35/3 in the fifth over. A fighting half-century by Liam Livingstone (54 off 40) and crucial cameos from Jitesh Sharma (33 off 21) and Tim David (32 off 18) helped the hosts post a modest 169/8.
Playing his first match at the venue as a visiting player, Siraj shone with the ball, grabbing 3/19, while Sai Kishore chipped in with 2/22. Gujarat Titans, despite a subpar fielding effort, managed to keep RCB’s total in check.
It was emotional because I played for seven years here (for RCB). There was some nervousness and emotion, but the moment I got the ball in my hand, it was full-on (intensity).
On his animated celebration after dismissing Salt, he added, "That was me saying I am here (ready for the contest), and I am a Cristiano Ronaldo fan as well."
Chasing 170, Buttler anchored the innings with a powerful display, striking five fours and six sixes. He shared a 75-run partnership with B. Sai Sudharsan (49) and an unbeaten 63-run stand with Sherfane Rutherford (30*) to steer Gujarat Titans home with 13 balls to spare.
There was a bit in the wicket, so we played sensibly to take the sting out of that and set up the chase. Tried to play with freedom and intent - had a few months of unenjoyable cricket, trying to give my best and excited to be here.
He also credited the team’s all-round performance: "Really enjoyed it. Felt the bowlers did a fantastic job. If we fielded better, myself included, we would have chased less. Nice win and well deserved. We have got a lot of bases covered - fantastic seam-bowling unit, the spinners, and a fantastic batting unit as well."
Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill expressed satisfaction with the victory but acknowledged the team’s fielding lapses.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 169/8 in 20 overs (Liam Livingstone 54, Jitesh Sharma 33; Mohammed Siraj 3-19, R Sai Kishore 2-22) lost to Gujarat Titans 170/2 in 17.5 overs (Jos Buttler 73*, B. Sai Sudharsan 49; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-23, Josh Hazlewood 1-43) by eight wickets:
