Gujarat Titans (GT) handed out Rajasthan Royals (RR) their first defeat of the IPL 2024 season on Wednesday (April 10) by three wickets in Jaipur. Royals had won each of their four matches before going down in a last-ball thriller to Titans.
GT captain Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bowl first as RR overcame the early loss of their openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler, with captain Sanju Samson (68*) and Riyan Parag (76) scoring brilliant fifties to help the team post 196/3 in their 20 overs.
In reply, Gill led from the front with 72, but rest of the GT batting line-up struggled to get going against a quality bowling side after a conservative start. When Gill was eventually dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal, GT were tottering at 133/5 in the 16th over before Rahul Tewatia (22), Shahrukh Khan (14), and Rashid Khan (24*) took charge and achieved the target on the final ball of the match.
During the post-match presentation, Gill stated that GT were always confident about chasing down the target despite the tough equation in the last few overs. He said, “We were targeting 45 in three overs and that is very much gettable, and that was the mindset. Mathematically, it is like both batters need to score 9-ball 22 runs or so and if one of the batters goes berserk, it will get over 2-3 balls prior. (On the Impact Player rule) It does make a difference if you have an extra batter. But it is just the mindset to make it easier and simpler.”
Gill went on to laud Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan for their brilliant finishing act, “I would have loved to finish the game but very happy with the way Rashid bhai and Rahul bhai finished the game. Last game also, we dominated more than 50% but our bad phases were very bad. Winning the game off the last ball is a wonderful feeling. He (Rashid) is such a fantastic player, someone you always want in your team,” he said.
Lastly, presenter Harsha Bhogle remarked that though Gujarat Titans earned the two points but he and some of the other commentators felt that the Titans left the acceleration too late. To which, Gill came up with a cheeky punchline, “When GT play don't think like that, eh” before walking away.
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