April 14, 2022. Rajasthan Royals face IPL debutant Gujarat Titans for the first time and end up losing by 37 runs.
May 24, 2022. RR and GT clash for the second time in the season but this time on stake is a direct entry for the final. RR again taste defeat.
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May 29 2022. The third and final time RR and GT clash during the season. And this time, they are crossing swords for the IPL trophy in the summit clash. For the third straight time, GT emerge victorious, this time by seven wickets.
Having lost their all three previous meetings, RR captain Sanju Samson must have been itching to pull one back this time around. He didn’t have to wait long as in their first meeting of IPL 2023 on April 16, RR had their ‘revenge’ as they sealed a three-wicket win over GT and that too in their opponent’s backyard.
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Besides Samson, Shimron Hetmyer was also one of the main architects of the thrilling performance as he made an unbeaten half-century. His celebration after hitting the winning six was evident enough of how much he enjoyed the result, having finally gotten one over their strong opponent.
“I don’t have any words," player of the match Hetmyer said during the post-match presentation. “Difficult to win against these (GT) guys, they beat us thrice last year but today was sort of a revenge."
Hetmyer is the designated finisher for RR and he admits enjoying being in pressure situations.
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“I practice these situations, it helps when you practice with that mindset of knowing we are few wickets down and chasing 100 with 8 overs to go," Hetmyer said.
With seven runs to defend in the final over, GT captain Hardik Pandya threw the ball to rookie spinner Noor Ahmad who had come into the match as an impact substitute. He could have gone with either Alzarri Joseph or Mohit Sharma but chose to throw the youngster into the deep end.
Hetmyer took a couple off the first delivery to complete his fifty and then launched a flat six over midwicket to seal the deal.
“I was actually pretty happy to be honest (on Noor bowling the final over). He bowled well throughout so the first ball all I was thinking about was getting that double and take it from there," Hetmyer said.
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