Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag’s batting efforts (68* off 38 and 76 off 48) went in vain as Rashid Khan‘s all-round performance ended Rajasthan Royals’ unbeaten run in IPL 2024. Rashid Khan cut the last ball for a boundary to backward point region to help Gujarat Titans to a three-wicket win at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Rajasthan Royals did almost everything they could to go 5-0 on top of the IPL 2024 points table. But Rashid Khan happened. Rashid conceded just 18 off his four overs, and should have had at least one more wicket but for dropped catches; without his effort, Gujarat Titans could have been chasing a lot more than 197. That was a difficult ask in itself, and it came down to 40 off 15 balls when they lost their sixth wicket and then Rashid Khan the batter chose a perfect moment with a bat to see his team over the line.
Pitch and Toss.
Slightly windy at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. 62 meters on one side (against the wind), 70 meters on the other (with the wind). 79 meters down the ground. Looks like a really good wicket. There’s just a hint of grass on it – green grass. Hopefully that will keep some extra pace in the wicket. We saw here last time, this was the slowest out of all the surfaces on this block of wickets in Jaipur. For me, I’ll look to play straight as a batter here. Because we know in Jaipur, there can be some movement with the new ball.
But as it goes on, I expect it to get a little bit slower. With the overhead conditions, there shouldn’t be much dew. Overhead conditions suggest there might be rain later on states Pommie Mbangwa and Aaron Finch.
Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill won the toss in a delayed start and chose to field making two changes as Matthew Wade comes in for Kane Williamson and Abhinav Manohar for BR Sharath.
Rajasthan Royals batting first bought in Kuldeep Sen for injured Nandre Burger.
RR openers fail again as Rashid Khan gets prized scalp of Buttler.
Jos Buttler arrived for this game with a century in his previous outing – against RCB – but the home team didn’t have service from the openers once again as both Yashaswi Jaiswal and Buttler departed early.
After almost having chopped on in the first over off Umesh Yadav, Jaiswal got going with a flurry of boundaries but his innings was cut short in the fifth over when his attempted scoop against the pacer reached the wicketkeeper’s gloves safely. In the next over, Rashid Khan had Buttler caught at slips, edging a slash. It reduced Royals to 42 for 2.
Yashaswi Jaiswal threatened to break his run of low scores with a series of thrilling off-side boundaries early on, but both he and Jos Buttler fell inside the powerplay, leaving Royals 42 for 2.
Buttler departed in Rashid Khan’s first over, the sixth of the innings, edging a sharply turning leg break to slip while trying to drive inside-out. The first ball he had faced from Rashid Khan had kept low and beaten him outside off, giving Royals an early clue of how difficult they would find it to score against Rashid Khan.
Rashid Khan could have dismissed Riyan Parag later in that over, or in his next over, as Royals’ No. 4 reached away from his body and edged a pair of leg breaks. Keeper Matthew Wade, however, put him down.
Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson take centerstage
The two in-form batters yet again came to Royals’ rescue. Parag enjoyed the rub of the green early on as Wade dropped him twice – on 0 and 6. The duo survived against the spin threat of Rashid and Noor Ahmad, as RR were limited to 52/2 in 8.1 overs. That’s when Parag cut loose, sweeping Noor over the mid-wicket fence.
A few balls later, Mohit Sharma’s inability to back up a throw resulted in five runs and Royals got the momentum they needed. Even though the batters were largely cautious against the spinners, they took a few chances every over and kept the scoreboard moving at a reasonable pace. In the 13th over, Parag nailed two slog sweeps off Noor and then brought up his half-century in the next over by depositing Mohit over the long on fence.
Samson, who was playing the secondary role till then, got going against Spencer Johnson by smashing two boundaries and a six in the next over. He then employed his scoops and reverse scoops – not always to the best effect – but it proved productive enough. In the 17th over, Rahul Tewatia tripped over and allowed the ball to go past him and help Samson to another half-century.
Parag departed in the penultimate over, holing out to Vijay Shankar in the deep, where the fielder took some time to take control of the catch – falling over, lobbing the ball and then taking it a few inches away from the ropes. Nonetheless, the 130-run stand in 78 balls between Samson and Parag set the platform for RR’s massive total.
Riyan Parag and Sanju Samson set up challenging total of 196 for 3.
At times, Noor Ahmad looked just as threatening as his Afghan spin twin at the other end, but he didn’t quite bowl with the same control of length. Parag took every opportunity he got to slog-sweep Noor, when he went a little too full or a little too far down the leg side, and that shot brought him three sixes and a four against the left-arm wrist spinner. In all, Parag hit 33 off 17 against Noor, the centerpiece of another impressive display, his third fifty in five innings this season.
Sanju Samson didn’t have as much of the strike as Parag early on in their partnership – he was on 29 off 20 when Parag reached his half-century off 34 balls. He made a telling impact when he did get on strike, however, showing off his range of shots, including a stunning pair of hits off Spencer Johnson in the 15th over: two short-of-length balls, punched wide of extra-cover for four and flat-batted over long-on for six.
The one bowler the third-wicket pair didn’t go after, though, was Rashid. Parag scored 13 off 15 against him, and Samson five off six. His final over, the 16th, produced five singles and a dot.
You could see why Royals played him this way. R Ashwin was slotted at No. 7, and Royals have tended not to use a batter as their Impact substitute even when they’ve lost early wickets. They’ve preferred to stack their bowling, and by playing out Rashid they ensured they could do this again: Keshav Maharaj came in for his IPL debut, partnering Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal in a formidable spin attack.
With Rashid’s quota done, Royals went hard, taking 57 off their last four overs. Parag fell in the 19th, and Shimron Hetmyer, who has seldom got a chance to get his eye in this season, clattered an unbeaten 13 off 5 as he and Samson hit 24 off the last eight balls of the innings. Umesh Yadav’s wayward lines and lengths, coupled with some brute force of Shimron Hetmyer in the last over powered Royals to 196 for 3.
Gill, Sudarshan provide steady start once again
In quite a contrast to Royals, Gujarat Titans got a steady start courtesy their openers. The duo were largely conservative with their strokeplay, but pounced on the opportunities that came their way.
Sai Sudarshan cut Trent Boult for a boundary when the left-arm pacer provided some width and pulled Avesh Khan for a six when he bowled a poorly directed short ball. Shubman Gill, on the other hand, was a bit more adventurous. He went down the track to Keshav Maharaj and hammered him for a six and then took toll of Avesh’s full deliveries, driving him for a couple of boundaries. By the end of the powerplay, they had reached 44 for no loss.
Yuzvendra Chahal put down an easy return catch in the eighth over, offering Sudarshan a life at 32, but the opener couldn’t take advantage of it, as he departed three runs later in the next over – trapped leg before by Kuldeep Sen.
Kuldeep Sen seizes the momentum for RR.
The pacer was on fire after dismissing Sudarshan. In his next over, he cleaned up Matthew Wade and Abhinav Manohar as GT slipped from 64/0 to 79/3. Ashwin and Maharaj were hard to put away through the middle overs. Chahal was also effective, but time and again was hit for boundaries. However, the spin trio ensured that despite a strong start, Titans were left needing 85 runs in the last six overs with six wickets in hand.
When Kuldeep Sen, playing his first game of the season, made a dramatic entry with the wickets of Sudarshan, Wade and Abhinav Manohar in the space of 10 legal balls, Titans appeared to be going nowhere, needing 118 off the last 9.2 overs with seven wickets in hand. Vijay Shankar showed a bit of initiative and inventiveness to hit three fours in his first nine balls, but he was bowled missing a sweep off Chahal, and Titans went into their last six needing 86. Gill, on 53 off 37, hadn’t hit a boundary since the 10th over.
Gill changed gears at that point, hitting Ashwin for a pair of fours in the 15th over and starting the 16th with two more fours, freeing his arms to take full toll of Chahal’s line wide of off stump. Then came what seemed a decisive moment: Gill stepped out, perhaps a touch too early, and Chahal, seeing him coming, fired it even wider – a genuine wide – to have him stumped for 72 off 44.
A fight to finish as Titans finishers Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia pulls out a heist chasing 196 .
Gill, who had 35 balls to bring up his fifty, cut loose against Ashwin and Chahal. Just when he was looking well set to take on the target, he was lured out of his crease with a wide delivery from Chahal that spun away from his arc, and was stumped. Shahrukh Khan hit a few lusty blows against Ashwin but was trapped leg before by Avesh in the 18th over.
However, an erratic last over by Kuldeep flipped the momentum of the contest and left Titans needing 15 runs off the last over. There were wides, there was a no ball, there were low full-tosses put away for boundaries as Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia combined to collect 20 runs. To make it worse, Royals were five minutes behind the scheduled time when the last over started – and had one fewer fielder outside the third yard circle. This, despite using three spinners to bowl half their quota of overs.
Needing 15 runs off the last over, Rashid Khan heaved the first ball through the square leg region for a boundary. Two balls later, he got a thick outside edge past the ‘keeper for another four. Tewatia was run out off the penultimate ball while attempting a third run, which left GT needing two runs to win off the last balls. Rashid Khan cut it past the vacant backward point region for a four.
Presentations and Road Ahead.
Sanju Samson the loosing skipper said : I think the last ball of the game (where was the game lost?). Very hard to speak at the moment. Hardest job in the tournament when a captain loses the game and has to tell where the game was lost. When the emotions come down I’ll be able to tell clearly.
Have to give credit to the Gujarat Titans. That’s the beauty of this tournament. Will have to learn and move on. While I was batting I thought something around 180 would’ve been a fighting score. 196 was a winning score I thought. With no dew, our bowling lineup should’ve done it. It wasn’t easy to go hard at the start of the innings. 197 at Jaipur, without dew, we’ll take it any day.