RR's Batting Woes Continue as GT Marches Towards yet Another Win

Sai Sudharsan's 82 helped GT post the huge target of 218; RR falls 58 runs short desite Hetmyer's 52

Shimron Hetmyer’s quickfire fifty ended in vain, as GT outdid RR by 58 runs / ESPN Cricinfo

Gujrat Titans came out the best in the clash against RR as Sai Sudharsan kept his calm despite losing Jos Buttler and Gill early in the innings. Rajhastan's batting had been disappointing this season and it was the same old story for them against GT. Despite a good batting pitch in Ahmedabad, RR's batting failed to capitalize and withered away in the face of a huge target.

Playing XI:

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (capt), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, 5 Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Arshad Khan

Subs: Washington Sundar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, and Nishant Sindhu

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (capt & wk), Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande.

Subs: Shubham Dubey, Yudhvir Singh, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal and Kunal Singh Rathore

Sai Escapes Archer's Early Thunderbolts

Sanju Samson, RR's skipper, won the toss and decided to field first, considering there would be dew in later part of the match. Archer was on fire from ball one, as he has been this season, and clean-bowled Gill with a 147 kph thunderbolt. Buttler struggled as well, even though Sudharsan was playing some blistering strokes at the other end, finishing the powerplay at 59 for 1.

Buttler was dismissed after scoring 36 off 25 deliveries, an innings that was too slow according to Buttler's standards. Shahrukh Khan played a lightening innings of 36 before being dismissed by Theekshana and Sherfane Rutherford followed as well in the next over.

Sai Sudharsan, however, marched on with Rahul Tawetia and Rashid Khan providing the finishing touches to the innings. Sai was dismissed after scoring 82 off 53 deliveries. Tawetia scored 24 with the help of two fours and two sixes while Rashid Khan scored 12 off 4. GT managed to post the huge total of 217 on baord in their 20 overs.

Rahul Tewatia remained unbeaten, doing plenty of damage to RR with two maximums and as many fours, making the most of the little time he got at the crease. He was briefly joined by Rashid Khan before a Tushar Deshpande delivery ended Rashid’s stay, courtesy of an absolute blinder by Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Worst Possible Start for RR

RR struggled from the beginning, failing to read the pitch and batters played some rash shots, throwing away their wickets. both Jaiswal and Nitish Rana were back in the dugout with just 12 on board in 3rd over. Parag played with attacking intent but he too preishd after scoring 26. RR was in huge trouble, with 68 on board and four wickets down in 8 overs.

Shimron Hetmyer, who had been lacking form lately, stepped in and formed a much-needed partnership with skipper Sanju Samson. Hetmyer targeted the spinners and made a last-ditch effort to get close to the target while wickets kept chipping away from the other end.

However, Hetmyer couldn't take RR past the target, falling to Pradish Krishna's bouncer after reaching his fifty. There wasn't much hope after his dismissal as GT's bowlers swept through RR's lower order, winning the match by a massive 58 margin.