Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer’s fifties helped Rajasthan Royals register a three-wicket nervy win over defending champions Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday. Rajasthan managed to take revenge for the heartbreaking loss in the last season’s final as Hetmyer finished off the match in style with a six and four balls to spare.
Royals needed 7 runs off the final over and Hetmyer didn’t waste much time to add two crucial points to his team’s account. Ravichandran Ashwin also scored crucial two back-to-back fours in the penultimate over before getting out. Ashwin’s fours made the equation a bit easy for Hetmyer in the end.
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Hetmyer remained unbeaten on 56 as his 26-ball was laced with two fours and five sixes.
Chasing a 178-run target, Rajasthan Royals started on the worst possible note as they lose in-form openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler early. It was the second over of match when Hardik Pandya managed to get an edge from Yashasvi’s willow as Shubman Gill took a fine catch at slips. While on the fifth ball of the third over as Buttler tried to break shackles and attempted a ramp shot. He exposed all three stumps and Shami didn’t waste the golden opportunity as he hit the off-stump which went flying.
Skipper Samson and Devdutt Padikkal tried to revive the Royals’ chase with a crucial 43-run stand for the third wicket. However, Padikkal failed to get going and was dismissed for 26 by Titans starman Rashid Khan.
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Meanwhile, it was another disappointing outing from Riyan Parag as he departed for just 5.
Shimron Hetmyer joined Samson’s hands and pulled the Royals back into the game. The duo shared a quickfire 59-run stand in 27 balls. Samson became the victim of the Impact Player Noor Ahmed as the RR skipper went for a big shot didn’t get the desired elevation and was caught by David Miller. Samson struck 3 fours and 6 sixes during his 60-run knock. Dhruv Jurel also scored crucial 18 runs.
Mohammad Shami was the pick of the bowlers for Gujarat with three scalps, while Rashid Khan claimed two.
Earlier, asked to bat first, Gujarat Titans lost Wriddhiman Saha (4) and Sai Sudarshan (20) in bizarre fashions. Saha was dismissed in the first over itself as three RR fielders collided in the middle in the attempt to take his catch but eventually got caught by Trent Boult after Samson’s fumble.
While Sudarshan became the victim of a miscommunication and got run out.
Gill (45) and Pandya (28) came together at a time when the powerplay score seemed far from ideal. And, with two players back in the dugout, the defending champions seemed vulnerable. David Miller (46 off 30 balls) and Abhinav Manohar (27 off 13) provided the final flourish, with a 45-run partnership that was studded with three boundaries and five maximums.
Sandeep claimed a couple of wickets for Rajasthan, while Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal and Adam Zampa pick one each.
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