Fiery bowling spells from defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) spinners Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad bundled out Rajasthan Royals (RR) to 118 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Friday.
RR’s batting unit collapsed as no batter stepped up to fight against GT’s firing bowling attack.
Sanju Samson was the highest scorer for RR, with a knock of 30 off 20 balls.
Rashid took three wickets conceding only 14 runs. Young Noor Ahmad followed his mentor, picking two wickets and conceding 25 runs. Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya and Joshua Little took one wicket each.
Choosing to bat first backfired on Rajasthan as they lost early wickets. Key batter Jos Buttler was dismissed by GT skipper Hardik Pandya in the 2nd over. Jos Buttler scored just eight runs off six balls.
Already jolted by the loss of an early wicket, RR received another blow after Yashasvi Jaiswal was run out amid the chaos. He scored 14 runs off 11 balls.
At the end of the powerplay, RR crossed the 50-run mark by losing two crucial wickets.
Joshua Little took Samson’s wicket. The Sunrisers skipper scored 30 off 20 balls.
In the 8th over, Rashid Khan picked up the wicket of R Ashwin, who was batting at 2 off 6 balls.
Devdutt Padikkal continued to disappoint, however, as got out of the bowling of Noor Ahmad. In the 14th over, Noor struck again, dismissing Dhruv Jurel for 9 off 8 balls.
Shimron Hetmyer became the target of Rashid Khan’s spin in the 15th over. He scored just 7 off 13 balls.
RR crawled to the 100-run mark in 15 overs.
Mohammed Shami also got himself in the wickets column after castling Trent Boult for 15 off 11 balls.
After Adam Zampa returned to the dugout after being run out by Abhinav Manohar, RR posted a low score of 118, bundling out in 17.5 overs.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 118 (Sanju Samson 30, Trent Boult 15, Rashid Khan 3/14) vs Gujarat Titans. (ANI)
