Gujarat Titans crush Rajasthan Royals, tighten playoff race grip

Shubman Gill’s brilliant 84 and Rashid Khan’s four-wicket haul guided Gujarat Titans to a commanding 77-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. The win strengthened GT’s playoff hopes as they registered their fourth consecutive triumph in the IPL season

Jaipur: Leg-spinner Rashid Khan returned to his magical best with a four-wicket haul after his skipper Shubman Gill struck a sublime 84 as Gujarat Titans outclassed Rajasthan Royals by 77 runs to move a step closer to the IPL playoffs, here on Saturday.

Gill and Sai Sudharsan (55) stitched a commanding 118-run opening stand as Gujarat Titans piled up their season-best 229 for 4 after Rajasthan Royals opted to bowl on a batting-friendly deck.

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In reply, Rajasthan began in explosive fashion through teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who smashed 36 off just 16 balls with the help of three fours and three sixes, while Dhruv Jurel kept up the momentum with a rapid 24 off 10 deliveries (1×4, 3×6).

At 62/2 in five overs, Rajasthan looked firmly in the chase before Gujarat’s bowlers turned the game around to bowl the home side out for 152 in 16.3 overs.

The victory was Gujarat Titans’ fourth on the trot as they joined table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad on 14 points and tightened their grip on a playoff spot.

The pace duo of Kagiso Rabada (2/33 from 3 overs) and Mohammed Siraj (1/55) struck early blows in the powerplay before Rashid took complete control through the middle overs with a match-winning spell of 4/33.

Bowling between the eighth and 14th overs, Rashid exploited the slight turn on offer brilliantly and broke the backbone of Rajasthan’s chase.

He removed Jurel and Donovan Ferreira in the space of three balls. He first knocked back Jurel’s off stump with a teasing length delivery before rattling Ferreira with a sharp leg-break that drifted in and turned away.

He later trapped Ravindra Jadeja lbw and finished with four wickets, including three bowled dismissals, as Rajasthan kept losing wickets at regular intervals and handed the biggest win to GT.

Jason Holder wrapped up the tail returning with figures of 3/12 in his 2.3 overs.

Sooryavanshi gave Rajasthan a flying start by smashing the very first ball of the innings for six. He then took on Rabada with back-to-back sixes as the Royals raced to 26 without loss in two overs.

Siraj too came under attack, conceding three boundaries in four balls to the fearless youngster. But the India pacer eventually had the last laugh with a well-directed short ball that forced a mistimed pull, ending Sooryavanshi’s entertaining cameo.

Rabada then struck another big blow in the following over, dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal, who led RR on Saturday after regular captain Riyan Parag pulled his hamstring in the previous match, with a 152kph bouncer that was miscued to extra cover.

Jurel briefly revived Rajasthan’s hopes by smashing Siraj for three sixes and a four in a 22-run over, but Gujarat wrested back control once Rashid entered the attack.

Put in to bat, Gill’s 44-ball knock, studded with nine fours and three sixes, was a masterclass in timing and strokeplay as he mixed elegance with aggression despite struggling briefly with discomfort in his left foot before reaching his fourth IPL fifty this season.

Brijesh Sharma (2/47) picked the wickets of Gill and Jason Holder in the back end but Washington Sundar (37 not out; 20 balls, 2x4s, 3x6s) played the finisher’s role along with Rahul Tewatia (14 not out; 4 balls), who smashed two sixes in a 21-run final over to take GT to their season’s highest total.

Their misery extended with Jofra Archer enduring a difficult outing early on, leaking 18 runs in the opening over, including five extras, as Sudharsan capitalised on his erratic lines. Archer leaked 46 runs from his three overs.

Left-hander Sudharsan repeatedly pierced the off-side field while Gill settled in before shifting gears with a range of authoritative strokes.

GT raced to 108 without loss in just nine overs before Rajasthan managed to slow things down through spin in the middle phase.

Yash Raj Punia (1/37) finally provided the breakthrough in the 11th over by dismissing Sudharsan and ending the towering opening partnership.