RR vs GT IPL 2024: Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan lift Gujarat Titans to stunning win over Rajasthan Royals

Gujarat Titans secure dramatic victory (PTI)

Gujarat Titans pulled off a thrilling win from the jaws of defeat to halt Rajasthan Royals' four-match winning run. The Titans handed the hosts a three-wicket defeat at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur today as 37 runs came in the last 12 deliveries.

Skipper Shubman Gill laid the foundation with his flawless 72 and 64-run opening partnership with B Sai Sudharshan. Then Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan achieved the near-impossible in the last two overs to get GT past the 197 run target. Chasing 196, GT signed off with 199/7 with the winning runs coming as a boundary off the last ball off the match.

Tewatia-Rashid turn the tables

Rajasthan Royals appeared cruising for their fifth straight win when Avesh Khan trapped GT impact player Shahrukh Khan (14, 8b) lbw. GT at that stage needed 64 off just 23 deliveries with their lower order batters. The best bowler in the match  for RR, Kuldeep Sen had one over left. What an anti-climax. That last over from Sen turned out to be the game changer for the Titans. Tewatia (22, 11b, three 4s) and Rashid Khan went after Sen, realising 20 runs in the 19th over. RR lost momentum.

Lagging behind in their over rate added to Royals' woes. Slow over rate penalty meant that RR had to bowl the last over with six fielders inside the circle. That opened the window of opportunity for Tewatia and Rashid. The Afghan all-rounder had reserved his best this season for this day. His 11-ball 24 ( four 4s) were the perfect icing on the cake for the Titans, who desperately needed a win after having lost three of their last five matches.

Fortress Jaipur is breached. RR suffered their first loss at home after 24 games.

Kuldeep Sen wrests advantage for RR

It appeared an even contest in the first 11 overs of both the innings – GT were 83/3 to RR’s 82/2. The Titans could have been much better placed, but Kuldeep Sen wrested the initiative for the home team with his triple strike in 10 deliveries, with sheer beauties finishing right into the stumps.

Sen first broke the 64-run opening stand by trapping in-form Sai Sudharsan, the ball striking his pad right in front after beating the bat. The right arm pacer then rattled the stumps twice in the 10th over, castling Matthew Wade (4, 6b) and Abhinav Manohar (1, 2b).

Chahal brace pushed GT on the backfoot

You don’t indulge in mind games with a chess player. Losing a couple of pawns can be the part of a bigger plan to check and mate. The RR veteran, playing his landmark 150th match, got the better of dangerous looking Gill in a similar manner.

After conceding two back to back boundaries to Gill, Chahal tossed the third one short and outside the off stump as Gill showed his intent to use feet for another big one.

Gill was deceived by Chahal’s wrist craft only to be stumped by a margin good enough to keep the third umpire out of play. A big wicket, Gill (77, 44b, six 4s, two 6s) was anchoring the GT innings in the right direction and had potential to accelerate. Chahal in the earlier over had bowled out Vijay Shankar (16, 10b, three 4s).

Gill's dismissal left GT to get 64 off 23 deliveries, the game was just over for the Titans. With Seasoned campaigner Rahul Tewatia, impact player Shahrukh Khan and Rashid Khan still to come, the match was still far from over.

Rain disrupts GT momentum

When rain interrupted play after 10 overs, GT at 77/1 were seven short of the DL par score. The covers came off as quick as they were put on. No play was lost but GT batters lost their momentum with the interruption. Sen struck twice in a span of five deliveries. RR were back in the game.

GT lapses and familiar RR script

It was yet another familiar script for Royals – Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag forming a formidable partnership, and then Shimron Hetmyer going for the kill at the fag end as Titans preferred to field after winning the toss.

With RR 43/2, the battle remained evenly poised in the powerplay. Umesh Yadav and Spenser Johnson troubled the home team openers. All GT needed was to not let the Samson-Parag pair take the game away from them. They missed not one, but two opportunities – Parag was dropped twice by Matthew Wade – off the first and 5th deliveries he faced, from Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed respectively.

The Titans paid a heavy price of letting go of the second best run aggregator of IPL 2024. Parag celebrated the reprieves with a maximum. Thereafter, GT bowlers were punished severely. Runs rained through the RR innings, after late afternoon showers had delayed the toss by 25 minutes.

Samson-Parag flourish in pair

Samson and Parag, who had put together 59-ball 93 in RR's tournament against LSG, continued to flourish together till late in the 19th over for their 130-run partnership, off just 78 balls.

Parag fell for 76 (48b, three 4s, five 6s) going for a big heave, worthy of clearing the ropes but for an alert Vijay Shankar at long off. The fielder put his hand to the ball, lost balance but popped the ball back before crossing the boundary. He returned in a flash to complete the catch. Finally a wicket for RR’s most expensive bowler Mohit Sharma (4-0-51-1).

The success effectively had no bearing on the innings’ progress. The next man in Hetmyer slammed 13 off just five, with a four and a six. Skipper Samson returned unconquered after a flawless innings, worth 68 runs (38b, seven 4s, two 6s).

Early success not good enough

Some joys are short lived. Precisely, that was the case with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Gujarat Titans. The RR opener, who got just 49 runs from the earlier four innings, gave glimpses of what makes him one of the most feared batters in world cricket.

Jaiswal chose veteran pacer Umesh Yadav to regain his confidence, going for some big hits in his 19-ball 24, which also overshadowed in-form fellow opener Josh Buttler. Four of his five boundaries were against Yadav, who though had the last laugh, having Jaiswal caught behind by Matthew Wade as the 200th T20 victim of the veteran pacer.

GT got another early success as Rashid Khan got the better of Buttler (8, 10b), edging to Rahul Tewatia in slips under pressure to go for a big hit. GT didn’t get much to celebrate thereafter.

The dismissal got together the two main scriptwriters of RR’s unblemished run so far. The duo powered RR to a formidable 196/3. Let’s not forget, RR had posted 189/4 in 19.1 overs in their successful chase against RCB on Saturday at the same wicket.

Scores: Rajasthan Royals 196/3 (Riyan Parag 76, Sanju Samson 68*, Rashid Khan 1/18) lost Gujarat Titans 199/7 (Shubman Gill 72, Sai Sudarshan 35, Rashid Khan 24*, Kuldeep Sen 3/41, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/43).