The Gujarat Titans bounced back from two losses on the trot with an edge-of-the-seat win over the Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Wednesday.
Entering the match on a losing note against the rampaging Royals, who were unbeaten so far, it was one name the Titans remembered at the end of the night.
Player-of-the-Match Rashid Khan delivered with both bat and ball on a day when the bowlers were outshined by the batters.
Rashid's batting cameo may have taken the Titans home, but it was his spell which kept the Royals to under 200.
The top bowlers of the GT-RR game:
Rashid Khan
The Afghan genius usually bowls after the Powerplay, but Captain Shubman Gill brought him into the attack in the final over of the Powerplay and Rashid delivered promptly.
With Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler out in the middle, Rashid had a job to do, keep them quiet and take a wicket. And he started with exactly that, conceding just two runs in his first over and picking up a wicket.
After Samson got Rashid's spell underway with a single, Buttler, who struck a century in the previous game, attempted to pick up Rashid's length and knock it out of the park. But it straightened slightly, taking the outside edge and Rahul Tewatia finished the job at slip.
Rashid would have picked up Riyan Parag in the same over, but he was dropped by Matthew Wade.
In his next two overs, Rashid once again bowled tight, conceding just three and eight runs.
Rashid came back into the attack in the 16th and bowled another quiet one, conceding just five runs, with the Royal batters choosing to just play out his overs rather than going after him.
Rashid turned in figures of 1/18 in his four overs. He would have had more wickets to his name had it not been for the sloppy fielding.
Yuzvendra Chahal
The go-to bowler in the IPL and Chahal once again produced magic for the Royals.
Coming into the attack in the eighth over, Chahal was hit for two boundaries on the trot.
He may have picked up his first wicket of the night in his first over had it not been for a drop. And the bowler himself was guilty of it, dropping Sai Sudharsan on a follow-on catch. His first over went for 12 runs and his second for 9.
Coming back to bowl the 14th over, Chahal rattled the stumps to send Vijay Shankar packing. Earlier in the same over, Shankar brought out the reverse sweep to hammer Chahal for a boundary over backward point.
Outfoxing the batter, who once again tried the reverse sweep, Chahal changed his pace as it went crashing into the stumps.
In his final over, Chahal may have been hit for two boundaries, but he handed Royals Shubman Gill's massive wicket.
With Gill getting into the groove, Chahal outwitted the GT skipper as he came down the track only to be stumped by a mile!
Kuldeep Sen
He may have succumbed under pressure in the death overs, but Kuldeep Sen was spot on for the Royals at the onset of his spell.
With the GT openers off to a solid start, Samson brought Kuldeep into the attack in the 9th over and he delivered immediately.
After Gill welcomed him with a single, Kuldeep trapped Sudharsan with his second ball to pick up the first Titans wicket. Though initially not given out, the Royals reviewed the decision and ball tracking showed it would have crashed into the middle and off stump. Decision overturned and Kuldeep had his first wicket of the night.
In his next over, just after the rain break which lasted a couple of minutes, Sen struck once again, this time with Matthew Wade's wicket. A 146.3 kph length ball smashed into the stumps. Kuldeep picked up his second wicket in his second over.
He wasn't done. A 144.9 kph delivery flattened Abhinav Manohar's off-stump.
In his third over, Kuldeep leaked 11 runs while his fourth over undid all the good he did earlier.
With the pressure of the death over and Rashid and Tewatia in the middle, Kuldeep succumbed under pressure, giving away 20 runs. He ended the game with 3/41.
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