IPL 2023, 23rd Match: Rajasthan Royals 179 for 7 (Samson 60, Shimron Hetmyer 56*, Shami 3-25, Rashid 2-46) beat Gujarat Titans 177 for 7 (Miller 46, Gill 45, Sandeep 2-25) by three wickets

Rajasthan Royals had nearly arrived at a final turning point.

With a score of 66 for 4, their attempt to score 178 failed. They required a further 112 additional off 48 balls. Rashid Khan was going to bowl 12 of those.

You detected this was maybe an errand excessively steep, in any event, for somebody as pedigreed as Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer. However, as Rinku Singh demonstrated recently at this very ground, it is not over until it is over.

In Rashid’s third over, Samson scored 6, 6, 6, and Hetmyer attacked his West Indies teammate Alzarri Joseph at the other end. The Royals’ momentum had shifted so quickly that even Samson’s dismissal at that point did not seem to be a problem.

Hetmyer stood tall to raise his 50 years off 25 balls, Dhruv Jurel contributed an appearance thump of 17 that was worth very much more and R Ashwin came in to smack a six and a four in the penultimate over. They came within a few blows of winning all of this.

With five required off five, Hetmyer fixed a success that appeared to be unrealistic at one phase, by biffing Noor Ahmad for six as Royals had rebound from no place to pull off a heist that took them to the highest point of the IPL 2023 competitor list five games in.

This was yet another heartbreak for Gujarat Titans, eerily similar to their loss to Kolkata Knight Riders last week.

Titans’ chaotic start

Wriddhiman Saha and B Sai Sudharsan were gone inside the powerplay as Titans limped to 42 for 2; the first time this season that they didn’t reach 50 in the first six overs.

After Samson and Hetmyer collided, Trent Boult, Saha’s fourth opponent, took the rebound from a hoick that had three players going for it. Sudharsan was run-out at the striker’s end by a yard, after he looped himself at the bowler’s end; those valuable seconds that cost him the distance to reach the ground.

Hardik-Gill get going

The two tried to rebuild the innings by attacking the spinners, which was one of their strategies. In his first two, Ashwin was hit 27 times; While Hardik knocked down Adam Zampa, Gill scored with his feet. The pair added 59 in only 33 balls before Yuzvendra Chahal hoodwinked Hardik in trip to have him gotten for a 19-ball 28.

Titans’ slowdown

The Royals brilliantly brought their spinners into play, and the 30 deliveries that followed Hardik’s dismissal went for just 31 runs. Titans owed quite a bit of their energy eventually to Abhinav Manohar and

Manohar made 27 off 13 in a game he might have not played had Vijay Shankar been fit. Miller did what Miller does best: he pitched a full inning before hitting hard for 46 runs. The Titans suddenly had 177 for 7, which was more than they had anticipated at one point but probably less than they would have liked.

Rajasthan Royals rocked early

Jos Buttler was clean bowled while attempting to scoop Mohammed Shami, only his second duck in the IPL. Yashasvi Jaiswal was snuffed out in the slips. They needed some normalcy, which Devdutt Padikkal and Samson provided at 4 for 2 in three overs, until Rashid entered and splashed.

He had charging Padikkal slice a wrong’un to short third man in his first over. He had Riyan Parag hit a shot straight down long-off’s throat in his second over, the 11th.

Samson goes 6,6,6

The Royals had a win probability of 2.01% according to ESPNcricinfo, requiring 112 out of 48. But in Rashid’s third over, Samson hit some big shots. When Rashid dropped short in an effort to mix his lengths, he got to the pitch to belt the first two down the ground and quickly transferred weight back to pull.

casually chilling after doing the unthinkable 😁 pic.twitter.com/OHc9wY9YYE

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 16, 2023

At this point, Noor Ahmad, an Afghanistan left-arm spinner, was introduced by Titans as the Impact Sub in Gill’s place. Subsequent to being hit for a six and four, he had Samson select long-off.

Shimron Hetmyer sees Royals home

Hetmyer was the ideal foil at the opposite end, taking care of Samson’s energy with takedowns of his own, all the more so for Joseph. Shami stumbled a few yards in at third man for a catch that could have been delivered directly to Hetmyer if he had stayed on the ropes. This prevented Royals from getting Hetmyer at one point. The Royals needed 62 points from 29. They might reflect on it and wonder what might have been.

Dhruv Jurel quickly settled in after being brought in at Samson’s wicket. Royals were able to quickly reduce the deficit thanks to his flawless six-hitting and game-smart use of pace to play behind the wicket.

When Jurel hit a 10-ball 17, the Titans still had a chance, but Ashwin used the long handle on his first two deliveries to bring the score down to single digits. From that point on, Hetmyer won’t neglect this as Royals pulled off a rebound win.