Rashid Khan broke the Rajasthan Royals’ winning streak in the IPL 2024 with a boundary on the final delivery. At Sawai Mansingh Stadium, the home team’s batsmen struggled at first, but captain Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag formed a strong alliance to help them gain momentum. As Rajasthan scored 196 runs in the first innings, the pair put up a 130-run partnership.
Samson scored 68 runs off 38 deliveries, while youthful Parag scored 76 runs off 48 deliveries. Samson is presently trying out for a berth in the Indian T20 World Cup squad. While RR would have been pleased with the first innings total, Shimron Hetmyer had a nice cameo at the end, scoring 13 runs off of five deliveries.
Gujarat got off to a strong start in the chase, as openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan shared 62 runs in the middle of the innings. But one by one, wickets fell after Sudharsan was out for 35 runs. To retain the squad in the game, captain Gil performed admirably, scoring 72 runs off of 44 deliveries. Nevertheless, Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia were outstanding in the latter stages, as GT won by a margin of three wickets.
Speaking Points IPL 2024: RR vs GT
1. Probabilities of India’s form
In the grand scheme of the T20 World Cup, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson, and Avesh Khan are involved. Samson hit 68* while Gill made 72 runs, which was a fantastic knock for his team. They ought to take note because both athletes appeared to be in good condition. However, Avesh Khan has performed admirably this season. The pacer has performed admirably, with the exception of the last over, and this should boost his confidence going into the next games.
2. Memes to dreams
Over the past few years, Riyan Parag has endured vicious trolling. The cricket player is now taking advantage of the opportunity after putting in a lot of work on the domestic circuit. With 76 runs against GT, the 22-year-old rose to second on the IPL Orange Cap list. It seemed like a dream the previous season when the cricketer scored his third half-century of the year in five games.
3. The leadership of Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson placed his money on Kuldeep Sen and Avesh Khan and chose not to engage Trent Boult’s services in the dying over. Boult was outstanding with the ball against GT, so it was a brave move. Strangely, the Kiwi pacer was never considered again despite conceding just eight runs in his two overs.
Also read: Shot of the Day – Shubman Gill’s majestic lofted drive steals the show in Jaipur- RR vs GT IPL 2024
Losing skipper Sanju Samson said:
I think the last ball of the game (where was the game lost?). Very hard to speak at the moment. Hardest job in the tournament when a captain loses the game and has to tell where the game was lost. When the emotions come down I’ll be able to tell clearly. Have to give credit to the Gujarat Titans.
That’s the beauty of this tournament. Will have to learn and move on. While I was batting I thought something around 180 would’ve been a fighting score. 196 was a winning score I thought. With no dew, our bowling lineup should’ve done it. It wasn’t easy to go hard at the start of the innings. 197 at Jaipur, without dew, we’ll take it any day.
Winning skipper Shubman Gill said:
We were targetting 45 in 3 overs and it is very much gettable and that was the mindset at that time. Mathematically both batters needed to hit 22 off 9 balls and that’s how the thinking goes and if one batter goes berserk that will do. I would have loved to finish the game, but very happy with Rahul and Rashid bhai for finishing the job for us. Winning the ball off the last ball is always a great feeling. He (Rashid Khan) is someone who you always want in your team, he is such a competitor.
POTM Rashid Khan said:
Winning the game is more pleasing for me. Happy that I landed the ball where I wanted today and that gave me energy with the bat as well maybe. I haven’t bowled much in the last 3-4 months after the surgery and I just lost a bit of grip on the ball and I had a good session after the last game and it really helped me to get back to my best. I really enjoyed my bowling today. It was just a matter of hitting 3-4 sixes and you need to stay positive