Shubman Gill’s brilliant half-century and Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan’s brilliant finishing helped Gujarat Titans (GT) seal a thrilling three-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Jaipur on Wednesday. GT are now sixth in the table with three wins and three losses, giving them six points. RR suffered their first defeat after four wins and are still on top of the table with eight points.
Meanwhile, the win helped GT move up one place to sixth, while Punjab Kings slipped to 7th.
There is no change in the rest of the table with Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants placed second and third respectively.
Check the updated IPL 2024 points table here:
Chasing the target of 197 runs, Gujarat Titans openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan started cautiously and did not hit many fours and sixes.
GT were 44/0 at the end of six overs of the powerplay, with Sai (21*) and Gill (23*) unbeaten at the crease. GT scored 14 runs in the final over of the powerplay bowled by Avesh Khan, which included a four and a six from Gill.
GT reached 50 runs in 6.5 overs.
The 64-run partnership between Gill and Sai ended with fast bowler Kuldeep Sen scoring 35 runs in 29 balls with the help of three fours and a six. GT was 64/1 in 8.2 overs.
At half-time of the innings, GT were 76/1, including Gill (36*) along with Matthew Wade (4*). The match was interrupted due to rain.
After the rain, Rajasthan returned to the game and Kuldeep continued his brilliant spell. He dismissed both Matthew Wade (4) and Abhinav Manohar (1) in the 11th over, reducing GT’s score to 79/3 in 10.4 overs.
Out-of-form all-rounder Vijay Shankar supported Gill in the middle and took the team past 100 runs in 12.4 overs.
Gill completed his half-century in 35 balls with the help of two fours and two sixes.
Just when it seemed that both had formed a partnership and would start attacking, Yuzvendra Chahal clean bowled Shankar for 16 runs in 10 balls. GT’s score in 14 overs was 111/4.
After Vijay’s dismissal, Gill targeted RR’s spin pair Ravichandran Ashwin and Chahal and hit two fours each. However, he was stumped by Sanju Samson and Chahal got the last laugh. Gill scored 72 runs in 44 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes.
GT’s score was 133/5 in 15.2 overs and they needed 64 runs from 28 balls.
Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia, two dynamic batsmen, were the fresh pair at the crease. He scored 17 runs in the 17th over, which included a four from Tewatia and a four and a six from Shahrukh. The equation was that 42 runs were needed in 18 balls.
However, their brief partnership ended with Shahrukh being trapped LBW by Avesh Khan for 14 runs. GT’s score was 157/6 in 17.3 overs. The 2022 champions needed 35 runs from two overs at the end of the 18th over.
Kuldeep’s last over was costly as Rahul and Rashid hit him for three fours and he gave away some extra runs due to wide/no ball. This brought the equation to 15 in six balls.
Avesh’s final over was started by Rashid hitting a four, then a double and then another four, reducing the deficit to five runs in three balls. While trying to score the third run on the last ball, Tewatia was run out after scoring 22 runs in 11 balls with the help of three fours. Two runs were needed on the last ball. GT was 195/7 in 19.5 overs.
Rashid made his team win the match by three wickets by hitting a four on the last ball. He was out after scoring 24* runs in 11 balls with the help of four fours.
Kuldeep (3/41) and Chahal (2/43) were the best bowlers for GT.
Earlier, Ryan Parag and Sanju Samson’s explosive 130-run partnership took Rajasthan Royals (RR) to 196/3 against Gujarat Titans in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Wednesday.
Parag scored the most runs for RR by playing a brilliant inning of 76 runs in 48 balls, while captain Samson played a crucial unbeaten inning of 68 runs in 38 balls.
Coming to bat first, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler opened the innings for RR. Jaiswal finally found his rhythm and faced the GT bowlers and hit boundaries in every over to give RR a sensational start.
In the 5th over of the match, Umesh Yadav shed the first blood by dismissing dangerous opener Jaiswal for 24 runs. After this, captain Sanju Samson came to bat and started his innings by hitting two consecutive fours.
Shubman Gill introduced Rashid Khan in the powerplay and the Afghan player worked his magic to dismiss Jos Buttler for 8 runs. After Rajasthan suffered an early blow with the wickets of Jaiswal and Butler, Samson and Ryan Parag steadied RR’s ship with their stance.
Parag and Samson again came to RR’s rescue after the top-order failure as the duo completed a 50-plus partnership in 39 balls.
Parag played a strong innings and completed his half-century in 34 balls. Spencer Johnson suffered the most damage as he was dismissed for 16 runs by Samson with the help of two fours and a six.
Parag and Samson stitched a 100-run partnership and continued the strong performance for RR. Samson scored his third half-century of the season.
Vijay Shankar took a brilliant catch at the boundary on Mohit’s ball and dismissed Parag for 76 runs. Shimron Hetmyer hit two sixes in the last over, taking his team’s score to 196/3 in 20 overs.
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