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Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Gujarat Titans (GT) by three wickets in yesterday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Bowling first after winning the toss, Rajasthan restricted Gujarat to 177-7 as Sandeep Sharma shone with 2-25. Half-centuries from Sanju Samson (60 off 32) and Shimron Hetmyer (56* off 26) lifted Rajasthan to victory in 19.2 overs.
Chasing 178, RR got off to a disastrous start, as Yashasvi Jaiswal (1) was caught at slip of Hardik Pandya, while Jos Buttler (0) was cleaned up by Mohammed Shami as he missed an attempted scoop. When Devdutt Padikkal (26) miscued a big hit off Rashid Khan, RR were in big trouble. Another failure from Riyan Parag (5) saw them slip to 55-4.
Sanju and Hetmyer then launched a counter-attack, adding 59 for the fourth wicket. The RR captain struck three fours and six sixes before falling to Noor Ahmad, miscuing a heave. Samson struck Rashid for a hat-trick of sixes in the 13th over.
Hetmyer yet again played the finisher’s role to perfection, smacking two fours and five sixes. The left-hander hit Alzarri Joseph for two sixes in the 16th over and struck a four and six off Rashid in the 18th.
Fittingly, it was Hetmyer who hit the winning runs, pulling Ahmad for a maximum over wide midwicket.
Gujarat batters fail to convert starts
GT put up a disappointing showing with the bat, as many of their batters got starts but failed to convert them into big scores.
The first wicket fell in bizarre fashion. Wriddhiman Saha (4) mishit a whip of Trent Boult, and the ball went straight up in the air. Multiple fielders converged towards the ball, with no calling. Eventually, Boult took the catch as the ball popped out following a fielding collision.
Shubman Gill contributed 45 off 34, while David Miller chipped in with 46 off 30. However, Sai Sudharsan (20) and Hardik Pandya (28) disappointed after getting their eye in. Abhinav Manohar (27 off 13) played an impressive cameo to lift GT.
GT vs RR: Who Won Player of the Match in yesterday's IPL 2023 match?
Pacer Sharma stood out for RR, registering figures of 2-25. In the chase, Samson and Hetmyer scored superb fifties. For GT, Gill and Miller struck fine 40s, while pacer Shami impressed with 3-25.
Hetmyer, though, was named the Player of the Match for lifting Rajasthan to victory from a tough situation.
