Rajasthan Royals (RR) took a perfect revenge of the IPL 2022 final's loss as they pegged back defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) this time around with three wickets in a nail-biter Indian Premier League's (IPL) 2023 contest in Ahmedabad on Sunday (April 16).
The match went down to the wire but Shimron Hetmyer (56 off 26) kept his calm and belted GT bowlers left right and centre to pull off a thrilling win for the Royals. Riding on Shubman Gill and David Miller's cracking knocks GT posted a challenging total of 177/7. In reply, Sanju Samson's brilliant 60 off 32 and Hetmyer's blitkrieg helped RR chase down the target with four balls to spare.
After Royals were reeling at 4/2, Samson played a blinder to counter the damage that Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya had done in the powerplay. RR had lost both Jos Buttler and Yasahsvi Jaiswal and were able to score just four runs in the first three overs. However, Samson blasted 60 in 32 balls to bring RR right back in the chase. He first put up a 43-run stand off 34 balls for the third wicket with Devdutt Padikkal and then a 59-run stand that came in just 27 balls with Shimron Hetmyer for the fifth.
However, Samson was trapped by Noor Ahmed in the 15th over when RR still needed 63 runs off 30 balls. It was all upto Hetmyer then who kept smashing GT bowler all around the park to keep the scoreboard ticking. After Samson's dismissal Dhruv Jurel (18 off 10) and Ravichandran Ashwin (10 off 3) played an instrumental role in the end to assist Hetmyer in the run chase. With six needed off the last over of Noor, Hetmyer took a double off the first ball and banged a six in the next to finish off in style and seal the match. Mohammed Shami picked up 3/25 for the losing cause while Rashid Khan claimed two scalps.
With this win, RR held on to the top spot in the IPL 2023 points table, with four wins in five matches.
Earlier, Gill's cool demeanour in the face of adversity and skipper Pandya's quick understanding of the situation again came to the fore as their half-century stand helped GT post 177/7 against RR.
GT lost Wriddhiman Saha (4) and Sai Sudarshan (20) in bizarre fashions. Saha was dismissed in the first over itself as three RR fielders collided in the middle in the attempt to take his catch but eventually got caught by Trent Boult after Samson’s fumble. While Sudarshan became the victim of a miscommunication and got run out.
Gill (45) and Pandya (28) came together at a time when the powerplay score seemed far from ideal. And, with two players back in the dugout, the defending champions seemed vulnerable. David Miller (46 off 30 balls) and Abhinav Manohar (27 off 13) provided the final flourish, with a 45-run partnership that was studded with three boundaries and five maximums. Sandeep claimed a couple of wickets for Rajasthan, while Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal and Adam Zampa pick one each.
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