Images from the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans in Jaipur on Wednesday.
Shubman Gill led from the front with a fine half-century, while Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan chipped in with useful knocks at the end to enable Gujarat Titans score a thrilling three-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League match in Jaipur on Wednesday.
The victory took Gujarat Titans to sixth in the 10-team IPL table after three wins and three defeats.
Rajasthan Royals suffered their first defeat after four straight wins. They have eight points and still occupy the No. 1 spot.
Gill top-scored with a 44-ball 72, while Khan scored 24 not out off just 11 balls, and Tewatia 22 off 11.
Earlier, Riyan Parag (76) and Sanju Samson (68 not out) slammed cracking fifties and shared a 130-run partnership to power the Royals to a challenging 196 for 3.
In reply, Gujarat Titans looked down and out at 157 for 6 after 17.3 overs but Khan and Tewatia took the team home with the last delivery of the innings.
Gujarat Titans openers Gill and Sai Sudarshan adopted a cautious approach, not scoring many fours and sixes. At the end of six overs of the Powerplay, GT were 44 without loss, with Sai (21 not out) and Gill batting on Gill 23.
The final over of the Powerplay, bowled by Avesh Khan, saw GT score 14 runs, including a four and six by Gill.
They reached the 50-run mark in 6.5 overs.
The 64-run partnership between Gill and Sai ended when pacer Kuldip Sen trapped the latter for 35 off 29 balls. GT were 64 for 1 in 8.2 overs.
Halfway through the innings, they were 76 for 1, with Gill (36 batting) joined by Matthew Wade (4 batting).
The match was interrupted by rain. After the rain, Rajasthan staged a comeback as Sen continued his brilliant spell. He castled both Matthew Wade (4) and Abhinav Manohar (1) in the 11th over, reducing GT to 79/3 in 10.4 overs.
Vijay Shankar, the out-of-form all-rounder, joined Gill in the middle, and took the team past the 100-run mark in 12.4 overs.
Gill reached his fifty off 35 balls, with two fours and two sixes.
Just when it seemed that the duo had built a partnership and would start attacking, Yuzvendra Chahal cleaned up Shankar for 16 off 10 balls.
GT were 111 for 4 in 14 overs.
After Vijay's dismissal, Gill targeted RR's spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Chahal, hitting them for two fours each. However, he was stumped by Sanju Samson and Chahal had the last laugh.
Gill scored 72 off 44 balls.
GT were 133 for 5 in 15.2 overs, needing 64 from 28 balls.
Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia, the two hard-hitting batters, were the fresh pair on the crease. They gathered 17 runs in the 17th over, with a four by Tewatia and a four and six by Shahrukh.
The equation was down to 42 runs needed off 18 balls. However, their brief partnership ended with Shahrukh being trapped leg-before-wicket by Avesh Khan for 14.
GT were 157 for 6 in 17.3 overs. The 2022 champions ended the 18th over with 35 runs needed from two overs.
But Kuldeep's penultimate over was a costly one as Rahul and Rashid hit him for three fours. He also gave away some extra runs due to wides/no balls.
It brought down the equation to 15 from six balls.
Avesh's final over started with a boundary by Rashid, then a double and another four, bringing down the deficit to five runs from three balls.
Off the penultimate delivery, while attempting a third run, Tewatia was run out for 22 off 11 balls.
Two runs were needed off the final delivery as GT were 195 for 7 in 19.5 overs.
Rashid dispatched the ball to the boundary and the Titans won the game three wickets.
Batting first, Parag and Samson continued their red-hot form in IPL 2024. Their aggressive fifties propelled Rajasthan Royals to a solid total.
At 43 for 2 in the Powerplay, the Titans had it all under control before skipper Samson (68 not out off 38 balls) and Parag (76 off 48) combined to snatch the momentum from the visitors.
The Royals smashed as many as 123 runs in the last 10 overs.
Parag, who has taken his game to the next level and is thriving in his new batting position of No. 4, was at his disdainful best on way to his third half-century in five innings.
He shared a 130-run stand off 78 balls with Samson, who has also been in sublime touch since the start of the tournament.
Matthew Wade dropping Parag on 0 and 6 off star spinner Rashid Khan also cost Titans dearly as the in-form batter found the big hits at will afterwards.
The 22-year-old hammered five sixes, three of them coming against left-arm spinner Noor Ahmed via the sweep shot.
Parag brought up his fifty with a flat six over long-on off pacer Mohit Sharma.
Samson, on the other hand, started with back-to-back fours off Umesh Yadav before taking a backseat to watch Parag go about his business.
Besides catching, Gujarat Titans' ground fielding was equally poor.
Samson reached his third half-century with a straight boundary off a Mohit full toss that should have been caught by Rahul Tewatia at long-on.
Frustrated at the turn of events, Titans captain Shubman Gill could not hold back his emotions over a wide call that eventually stayed wide.
In the penultimate over, Parag pulled a bouncer off Mohit over mid-wicket for another maximum.
Early on in the Royals innings, Yashasvi Jaiswal (24 off 19) played some exquisite strokes on the off-side before falling to a pre-meditated scoop off Umesh Yadav.
His opening partner Jos Buttler went for an expansive drive off Rashid in the sixth over but ended up getting caught at first slip.
