AHMEDABAD — Sai
Sudharsan’s classy fifty combined with a collective bowling effort powered
Gujarat Titans to a commanding 58-run win over Rajasthan Royals in their IPL
clash here on Wednesday.
Sudharsan lit up the evening with a dazzling 53-ball 82,
while explosive cameos from Jos Buttler (36), Shahrukh Khan (36), and Rahul
Tewatia (24) propelled GT to a formidable 217/6.
The bowlers then kept chipping away, striking at regular
intervals to keep Rajasthan on the back foot despite fighting knocks from
Shimron Hetmyer (52) and skipper Sanju Samson (41).
The visitors were eventually bowled out for 159 in 19.1
overs.
Sudharsan was in sublime touch, effortlessly finding gaps
and punishing anything loose. His fluent knock, laced with eight boundaries and
three sixes, formed the bedrock of GT’s imposing total.
Defending 217, pacers Mohammed Siraj (1/30) and Arshad Khan
(1/19) struck early to give GT the perfect start.
Arshad drew first blood, removing the dangerous Yashasvi
Jaiswal (6) who slashed at a wide one and picked out Rashid Khan at deep third.
In the very next over, Nitish Rana (1) attempted an
upper-cut off Siraj but met the same fate, guiding it straight to the fielder
at deep third man.
But Samson and Riyan Parag (26) launched a fiery
counterattack. Parag smoked three no-look sixes, while Samson dispatched
anything loose to the boundary with casual ease, taking RR to 57/2 in the
powerplay.
The momentum swung again as Impact Sub Kulwant Khejroliya
(1/29) had Parag caught by Buttler, before Rashid Khan removed Dhruv Jurel (5)
to leave Rajasthan tottering at 68/4.
Samson and Hetmyer added 48 runs to keep hopes alive, but
Prasidh Krishna (3/24) dealt the killer blow.
He first dismissed Samson as the wicketkeeper tried to steer
one behind square but only managed to skew it high towards Sai Kishore, who
held on calmly at the edge of the circle.
Earlier, after leaking plenty of runs initially in the IPL,
Jofra Archer (1/30) is well and truly back to his best.
With the new ball in hand, he cranked it up to 152.3 kph in
his first over, then returned in his second to clean up Shubman Gill (2) with a
steaming 147.7 kph inswinger that beat the inside edge and crashed into Gill's
off stump.
Archer then greeted Buttler with a sharp bouncer, but the
former England captain responded a couple of balls later with a crisp four to
the deep-cover boundary.
With Sudharsan taking charge, Buttler joined the party with
back-to-back boundaries off Fazalhaq Farooqi (0/38) in the seventh over.
In the next over, he sliced Maheesh Theekshana (2/54)
through the off side for a four, before lofting him straight down the ground
for another boundary.
But Theekshana had the last laugh, trapping Buttler
leg-before, ending an 80-run partnership.
Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson immediately turned back to
Archer in a bid to stem the flow of runs, and the Barbados-born pacer repaid
the faith with a tight over that went for just six.
But Shahrukh exploded into action in the very next over,
slamming consecutive boundaries before muscling one over deep extra cover to
inject some much needed momentum into the GT innings.
The boundaries kept coming as Shahrukh went after Theekshana
in the 14th over that yielded 16 runs.
Royals responded by striking twice in quick succession,
removing Shahrukh and Sherfane Rutherford (7) to pull things back.
Sudharsan was handed a life on 81 but couldn’t make much of
the reprieve, as Tushar Deshpande induced a thin edge to send him back in the
dugout.
