AHMEDABAD: Captain Sanju Samson (60) and Shimron Hetmyer (56 not out) scored half-centuries as Rajasthan Royals overcame a poor start to beat Gujarat Titans by three wickets in an Indian Premier League T20 match on Sunday. In a match between last season’s finalists, Rajasthan won the match by scoring 179 for seven in 19.2 overs after restricting Gujarat to 177 for seven.
This is Rajasthan’s fourth win in five matches and the team reached the top of the table. Gujarat is in third place with three wins in as many matches. Samson hit three fours and six sixes in his 32-ball knock while Hetmyer hit two fours and five sixes in his 26-ball unbeaten innings. Both shared a 59-run partnership in 27 balls for the fourth wicket to bring the team back into the match.
Dhruv Jurel (18 runs in 10 balls) and Ravichandran Ashwin (10 runs in three balls) also contributed significantly in the last over in Rajasthan’s victory. For Gujarat, Mohammed Shami took three wickets for 25 runs in four overs. Rashid Khan got two successes but conceded 46 runs in four overs. Captain Hardik Pandya (24 runs in four overs) and Noor Ahmed (29 runs in 2.2 overs) got one success each. Earlier, David Miller’s 46 and Shubman Gill’s 45 helped Gujarat Titans post a competitive score. Miller took advantage of the lifeline he got on six runs, hitting three fours and two sixes in his 30-ball innings. Apart from hitting four fours and a six in his 34-ball innings, Gill shared a 33-ball 59-run partnership with Pandya for the third wicket. Pandya scored 28 runs in 19 balls with the help of three fours and a six.
In the last over, Abhinav Manohar justified his selection in the team by hitting 27 runs in 13 balls with the help of three sixes. He shared a 22-ball 45-run partnership with Miller for the fifth wicket. The team added 52 runs in the last four overs. Sandeep Sharma once again impressed for Rajasthan, taking two wickets for 25 runs in four overs. Trent Boult, Adam Zampa, and Yuzvendra Chahal got one success each. Shami and Pandya got Gujarat off to a great start defending the target. Pandya made Yashasvi Jaiswal (one) while the same Shami made Jos Buttler (0) walk.
After three overs, Rajasthan’s score was two wickets for four runs. Devdutt Padikkal then hit sixes against both the bowlers but in the power play the team’s score could only be 26 for two. Samson hit his first six against Alzarri Joseph in the seventh over. Padikkal, however, was dismissed by Rashid in the ninth over. Riyan Parag (five runs) was disappointed once again and became the second victim of Rashid. Samson brought the team back into the match by hitting a hat-trick six against Rashid in the 13th over. From the other end, Hetmyer hit a six and a four against Joseph but Samson was dismissed by the ‘Impact Player’ in the 15th over. Completed his half-century in 29 balls with a single against Noor Ahmed.
He hit a six and a four in the same over but was caught by Miller while attempting another big shot. Hetmyer hit two sixes against Joseph in the 16th over and a six against Rashid in the 18th over to bring the team close to the target. The 19th over of the innings was full of ups and downs. Jurel hit Shami’s first ball for a six but was dismissed on the second ball. Ashwin then hit fours and sixes in consecutive balls but was dismissed on the fifth ball.
Hetmyer gave the team victory by hitting a six against Noor in the last over. Earlier, after winning the toss and electing to bowl, Boult gave Rajasthan Royals a great start by sending Wriddhiman Saha (four runs) to the pavilion in the first over itself. Sai Sudarshan (20 runs) was run out due to a mistake with Gill. Gill hit two fours in the sixth over and a four and a six in the eighth over against Ashwin.
Meanwhile, in the seventh over, Hardik increased the run speed by hitting sixes and fours against Zampa in consecutive balls. Chahal sent Hardik to the pavilion in the 11th over of the innings by trapping him in his spin. Yashasvi Jaiswal ended the captain’s innings by taking a brilliant catch on Hardik’s aerial shot. Meanwhile, Zampa dropped a simple catch of Miller off his own ball in the 13th over and the batsman hit Chahal for a six in the 15th over.
Sandeep ended Gill’s brilliant innings by getting caught by Butler. While Miller hit a six against Chahal in the 17th over, Abhinav Manohar increased the run rate with two consecutive sixes against Boult in the 18th over. He sent Zampa’s delivery to the visitors in the 19th over but was dismissed in the next ball trying to hit another. Sandeep showed the way to the pavilion after taking two fours from Miller in the last over.
