Sai Sudharsan’s scintillating knock of 32-ball 82 takes Gujarat home, GT beats Rajasthan by 58 runs

Gujarat bowlers kept chipping away, striking at regular intervals to keep Rajasthan on the back foot despite fighting knocks from Shimron Hetmyer's 52 and skipper Sanju Samson's 41

Ahmedabad: Sai Sudharsan’s classy fifty combined with a collective bowling effort powered Gujarat Titans to a commanding 58-run win over Rajasthan Royals in their IPL clash here on Wednesday.

Sudharsan lit up the evening with a dazzling 53-ball 82, while explosive cameos from Jos Buttler (36), Shahrukh Khan (36), and Rahul Tewatia (24) propelled GT to a formidable 217/6.

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The bowlers then kept chipping away, striking at regular intervals to keep Rajasthan on the back foot despite fighting knocks from Shimron Hetmyer (52) and skipper Sanju Samson (41).

The visitors were eventually bowled out for 159 in 19.1 overs.

Sudharsan was in sublime touch, effortlessly finding gaps and punishing anything loose. His fluent knock, laced with eight boundaries and three sixes, formed the bedrock of GT’s imposing total.

Defending 217, pacers Mohammed Siraj (1/30) and Arshad Khan (1/19) struck early to give GT the perfect start.

Arshad drew first blood, removing the dangerous Yashasvi Jaiswal (6) who slashed at a wide one and picked out Rashid Khan at deep third.

In the very next over, Nitish Rana (1) attempted an upper-cut off Siraj but met the same fate, guiding it straight to the fielder at deep third man.

But Samson and Riyan Parag (26) launched a fiery counterattack. Parag smoked three no-look sixes, while Samson dispatched anything loose to the boundary with casual ease, taking RR to 57/2 in the powerplay.

The momentum swung again as Impact Sub Kulwant Khejroliya (1/29) had Parag caught by Buttler, before Rashid Khan removed Dhruv Jurel (5) to leave Rajasthan tottering at 68/4.

Samson and Hetmyer added 48 runs to keep hopes alive, but Prasidh Krishna (3/24) dealt the killer blow.

He first dismissed Samson as the wicketkeeper tried to steer one behind square but only managed to skew it high towards Sai Kishore, who held on calmly at the edge of the circle.

Krishna then returned to snare Hetmyer.

Earlier, after leaking plenty of runs initially in the IPL, Jofra Archer (1/30) is well and truly back to his best.

With the new ball in hand, he cranked it up to 152.3 kph in his first over, then returned in his second to clean up Shubman Gill (2) with a steaming 147.7 kph inswinger that beat the inside edge and crashed into Gill’s off stump.

Archer then greeted Buttler with a sharp bouncer, but the former England captain responded a couple of balls later with a crisp four to the deep-cover boundary.

With Sudharsan taking charge, Buttler joined the party with back-to-back boundaries off Fazalhaq Farooqi (0/38) in the seventh over.

In the next over, he sliced Maheesh Theekshana (2/54) through the off side for a four, before lofting him straight down the ground for another boundary.

But Theekshana had the last laugh, trapping Buttler leg-before, ending an 80-run partnership.

Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson immediately turned back to Archer in a bid to stem the flow of runs, and the Barbados-born pacer repaid the faith with a tight over that went for just six.

But Shahrukh exploded into action in the very next over, slamming consecutive boundaries before muscling one over deep extra cover to inject some much-needed momentum into the GT innings.

The boundaries kept coming as Shahrukh went after Theekshana in the 14th over that yielded 16 runs.

Royals responded by striking twice in quick succession, removing Shahrukh and Sherfane Rutherford (7) to pull things back.

Sudharsan was handed a life on 81 but couldn’t make much of the reprieve, as Tushar Deshpande induced a thin edge to send him back in the dugout.