Rajasthan Royals their first loss of the season. Rashid Khan won it for Gujarat Titans. They won by 3 wickets against Rajasthan Royals chasing their 196/3 score on Wednesday at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. The match finished on the last of the innings. Kuldeep Sen dragged from the heights of heroics to the depths of defeat. Though Rashid Khan is the hero of GT, not to forget the contribution from Rahul Tewatia too. Earlier Gill also constructed the GT innings with captain’s knock of 72 runs.
Table-toppers Rajasthan Royals Wednesday batted first against Gujarat Titans. They posted 196 for three after 20 overs. Riyan Parag (76 runs off 48 balls) and Sanju Samson (68 not out off 38 balls) slammed Gujarat bowlers and shared a 130-run partnership. Yashasvi Jaiswal started the momentum for them with 24 off 19 balls. Rashid Khan (1/18) was the successful bowler for Gujarat Titans. though Umesh Yadav (1/47) and Mohit Sharma (1/51) managed a wicket each, they conceded too many runs.
Gujarat started their chase in a comfortable way. After a steady 64-run opening stand, Kuldeep Sen shook the Titans upside down with his first 2 overs. That spell included the wickets of Sudharsan, Wade and Abhinav Manohar. From 63/0 at the 8th over mark, the visitors slipped to 83/3 at the end of 11th over. Shubman Gill played a gritty knock of 72 off 44 balls. Then Chahal got the wickets of Shankar and Gill. It was almost over for GT. But Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan held the nerves in the end. Target came down to the last two overs needing 35 runs.
Sanju Samson had the option to go with the experienced Trent Boult but he went with Kuldeep Sen who was playing his first game of the season. Though Sen was having a good game, he gave 20 runs in 19th over with two wide and one no ball. 15 runs was needed in the last over, Avesh Khan failed to defend that. After Rahul (22 off 11 balls) got run out, Rashid Khan (24 not out off 11 balls) scored the winning run with a four on the last ball.Rashid Khan won the Player of the Match award for his all-round performance.