Gujarat Titans flexed their batting muscle before they unleashed a ruthless bowling unit to dismantle Rajasthan Royals by a commanding 58 run margin -- their third-largest win in IPL history.
GT not only surged to the top of the table after the thumping win, but also extended their stranglehold over RR, having now beaten them six times in seven meetings.
The Titans' bowling unit, which has quietly become one of the most potent this season, delivered a statement performance through the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Rashid Khan, while the other bowlers also made telling contributions.
In contrast, for the Royals, only Jofra Archer emerged with any credit in a match where they conceded over 200.
Titans' charge this season has been powered by their ever-improving bowling attack, and Prasidh Krishna has emerged as a key weapon, especially in the middle overs, where his extra pace and bounce have rattled batters.
After a wicketless outing in the season opener against Punjab -- GT's only defeat so far -- Prasidh has hit top gear.
In the last four games, he has taken a wicket in every match, bringing his tally to eight wickets at an economy of just 7.05.
What makes Prasidh's effort praiseworthy is that despite bowling mostly in the middle overs -- (Overs 7 to 16) -- he has made a big impact with six wickets for 50 runs from 66 balls.
His mastery of the short ball has been a key factor in his success. Five of his eight wickets in IPL 2025 have come from short balls, at an economy rate of 5.84.
Unlike many pacers who resort to slower bouncers in the middle overs in the IPL, Prasidh has kept it quick and steep, and it has paid off handsomely.
All his three wickets against Rajasthan Royals came from short balls. Sanju Samson couldn't control his steer to third man off the back of length delivery courtesy which bounced a bit more and he ended up edging it to short third man.
That wicket effectively finished off Royals' hopes as their captain walked back after scoring 41 from 28 balls.
West Indian Shimron Hetmyer, who stroked 52 from 32 balls, also found Prasidh's quick bouncer too hot to handle. His attempt at pulling it high into the stands only landed in the hands of Sai Kishore on the deep square leg fence.
A few balls earlier, Jofra Archer had miscued the attempted pull shot off a short ball angled into him, to Shubman Gill at mid-off.
Prasidh's 3/24 helped Titans do what no team had managed since IPL 2023 -- bowl out the Royals. It was the first time in two years that the Royals lost all 10 wickets in an IPL match.
After a slow start to the season, with just one wicket in four games, conceding more than 10 per over, Rashid Khan finally delivered a performance to remind spectators of his world-class pedigree.
Bowling with better control and smarter lengths, Rashid registered figures of 2/37 -- his best figures of IPL 2025.
Incredibly, he didn't bowling a single full delivery which had cost him in earlier games. Against Royals, almost 70 percent of his balls landed on a good length or back of a length, making him much harder to hit over the top.
He made an immediate impact by removing Dhruv Jurel in his first over, and then capped his night by trapping Shubham Dubey leg-before in his final over.
His return to form augurs well for Titans. If Rashid can continue in this vein alongside the consistent R Sai Kishore, Gujarat's spin threat could become a genuine trump card.
Jofra Archer breathed fire in his first spell and looked quite lively with the new ball on a pitch which hardly had anything for the bowlers.
While the rest of the Royals' bowling unit was taken apart, Archer shone bright once again, marking his third consecutive impactful outing after a horror opening game, when he was smashed for an IPL record of 76 runs in four overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
He has looked a different bowler altogether since that shocking performance, winning man of the match against Punjab Kings (3/25), while registering tidy figures of 1/13 against CSK.
Archer dismissed Shubman Gill in his second over with a dream delivery. He went full and fast -- the inswinger clocked at 147.7 kph gave Gill no chance as he went for the cover drive only to see the ball jag in sharply, beating the inside edge to crash into the stumps.
Amazingly, this was the third time that Archer has dismissed Gill in the space of 15 balls in the IPL.
With India's tour of England a couple of months away, this will certainly excite English cricket fans.
Photographs: BCCI
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