• Home
  • Match Hub
  • Rashid Khan And Saha Return To Form As Titans Flatten Rajasthan Royals

Rashid Khan and Saha Return to Form as Titans Flatten Rajasthan Royals

image-lhaswur1Rashid Khan celebrates a wicket against Royals (IPLT20.COM)

Gujarat Titans: 119/1 in 13.5 overs [Wriddhiman Saha 41* (34), Hardik Pandya 39* (15); Yuzvendra Chahal 1/22 (3.5)] beat Rajasthan Royals: 118 in 17.5 overs [Sanju Samson 30 (20), Trent Boult 15 (11); Rashid Khan 3/14 (4), Noor Ahmad 2/25 (3)]

Gujarat Titans shrugged off their shock defeat to Capitals with a huge win over Rajasthan Royals in match number 48 of the ongoing IPL 2023 season.

With the win, the Hardik Pandya-led side further solidified their status as this season’s table-toppers, while Royals slumped to number four  with their fourth defeat in the last five games.

Titans’ Afghan power comes to fore as Royals folded up for 118

Rajasthan Royals famed batting line-up was dusted out for just 118 in front of their home crowd in Jaipur. Having piled up scores of 189, 202 and 212 in their previous three outings of the season, Sanju Samson and co. failed to bat out their 20 overs as they succumbed to Gujarat Titans’ Afghanistan spin imports Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad.

Star openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal were both sent back to the pavilion within the powerplay, while captain Sanju Samson at number three emerged as the top-scorer of the innings with a mere 30.

Titans’ speedsters Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya and Josh Little all claimed a wicket each, while the rest of the Royals batters were mopped away by the two Afghanistan spinners.

Rashid Khan finished his spell with 3-14, while Ahmad claimed two wickets while giving away 25 runs.

Gill only casualty of Titans’ comfortable chase

Chasing a modest total, opener Wriddhiman Saha returned to form with a sublime 41* at the top of the order. The wicketkeeper-batter formed a 71-run stand with fellow opener and in-form batsman Shubman Gill in just 9.4 overs.

After Gill was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal for a run-a-ball 36, captain Pandya joined Saha at the crease and finished the game within the next 25 deliveries. The charismatic leader unfurled a thunderous 39* from just 15 balls as Titans aced the chase with more than six overs in hand.

The win takes Titans one step closer in sealing a spot for the playoffs, as they have already secured seven wins from their first 10 matches. They will now face the Lucknow Super Giants in a home game on May 7.