Hetmyer, Samson take Royals over the line
AHMEDABAD: At 66/4 after 12 overs, the Rajasthan Royals' pursuit of 178, set by Gujarat Titans, looked heading nowhere at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday.
But captain Sanju Samson (60 off 32b; 3x4, 6x6) and Shimron Hetmyer (48 not out off 26b; 2x4, 5x6) had other ideas. The pair hit aggressive half-centuries to propel the visitors to a three-wicket triumph over the defending champions to be on top of the table with eight points from five matches.
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IPL 2023 SCHEDULEIPL 2023 POINTS TABLE
The Titans bowlers produced a display of sharp, incisive bowling at the beginning of Royals' innings, forcing openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler to go for indifferent shots. Jaiswal was caught at first slip by Shubman Gill off Pandya's back of a length delivery while a flurry of dots forced Buttler to go for a scoop over the fine leg, resulting in him losing his off stump.
Impact player Devdutt Padikkal (26 off 25b; 2x4, 2x6) and Samson stabilized the innings but the former's dismissal, caught at short third-man by Mohit Sharma off leg-spinner Rashid Khan's googly, put the Royals back.
Despite the dismissal of Riyan Parag, who made 5, and Samson, Dhruv Jurel (18 off 10b; 1x4, 2x6) and R Ashwin (10 off 3b; 1x4, 1x6) kept hitting the big shots and with Hetmyer staying on till the end, the chase proved to be a straightforward one for the Royals. This is the first time the Royals have defeated the Titans in four meetings. For the Titans, Alzarri Joseph (0/47 in 3 overs) and Khan (2/46 in four overs) proved to be expensive, denting the defence of their total.
Earlier, the blazing starts, usually provided by Gujarat Titans openers Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill, was not the order of the day, which meant the hosts had an unproductive powerplay (42/1 in six overs).
1/10:IPL 2023: Rajasthan Royals beat Gujarat Titans to stay at the top
IANS
2/10:Table toppers
<p>Powerful knocks by skipper Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer led Rajasthan Royals to a stunning three-wicket win over holders Gujarat Titans to stay top of the IPL table on Sunday.</p>IANS
3/10:Match-winning stand
<p>Chasing 178 for victory, Rajasthan depended on Samson's 32-ball 60 and an unbeaten 56 by Hetmyer to achieve their target with four balls to spare in Ahmedabad. </p>IANS
4/10:Gill and Miller
<p>Shubman Gill (45) and David Miller (46) guided Gujarat to 177/7 after being asked to bat first.</p>IANS
5/10:Dramatic catch
<p>Wriddhiman Saha fell to a dramatic mid-pitch catch by Trent Boult off his own bowling after the ball bounced off Samson's gloves following a near collision between three fielders. </p>IANS
6/10:Gill and Pandya
<p>Gill started strongly despite losing partners but put on a 59-run stand with skipper Hardik Pandya to take the attack to the opposition. </p>AP
7/10:David Miller
<p>Sandeep Sharma denied Gill his fifty but Miller smashed boundaries in his 30-ball knock and Abhinav Manohar hit 27 off 13 balls. </p>AFP
8/10:Leading from the front
<p>Rajasthan were 4/2 and then 55/4 when Samson and Hetmyer put together 59 off 27 deliveries to bring alive the chase. </p>IANS
9/10:Hat-trick of sixes
<p>Samson took on Rashid Khan in an over and smashed a hat-trick of sixes and then took on Noor Ahmad before departing. </p>IANS
10/10:Noor Ahmad
<p>Noor Ahmad came in as impact player for Gujarat and after getting smashed for a six and four got Samson caught out. </p>AFPIn the end, a 45-run partnership off 22 balls for the fifth wicket between David Miller (46 off 30b; 3x4, 2x6) and Abhinav Manohar (27 off 13b; 3x6) helped the defending champions reach 177/4 in 20 overs. The Titans added 70 runs in the last six overs after again being strangled during the middle overs.
