Rajasthan Royals registered win in the 23rd match of IPL 2023 on Sunday. They got redemption after breaking the jinx of not winning against Gujarat Titans in IPL as the Sanju Samson-led team won by 3 wickets. Interestingly, both teams faced each other in the final of 2022 season of the tournament when Hardik Pandya-led team won the trophy. However, RR bounced back in this edition to remain the table-toppers.
In the match, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and decided to bowl first. Gujarat Titans gave Rajasthan Royals a target of 178 runs . In response, Rajasthan chased the target in just 19.2 overs with 3 wickets in hand. Shimron Hetmyer and captain Sanju Samson played impressive innings to guide their team to victory in a nail-biting thriller.
Chasing the big target, the performance of RR openers was underwhelming. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored just 1 run and Jos Buttler returned back to the hut without opening the account. After this, Devdutt Paddikkal and Sanju Samson made a good partnership and stabilized the innings. The momentum which was on Gujarat's side shifted in the 13th over when RR skipper Sanju smashed three back-to-back sixes in Rashid Khan's over. Sanju scored 60 runs in 32 balls before getting dismissed by GT debutant Noor Ahmad. While Devdutt contributed 26 runs, Riyan Parag managed to score 5 runs. However, in the end, Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel played fiery innings and the game became nothing less than a thriller. Shimron Hetmyer played an innings of 56 runs including the 6 to end the game in style. Jurel 18 (10) and Ravichandran Ashwin 10 (3) made impactful cameos.
Mohammed Shami got 3 wickets for Gujarat Titans. Rashid Khan got 2 wickets in his account and conceded 46 runs in his four overs. Noor Ahmad and Hardik Pandya picked 1 wicket each. Alzarri Joseph, on the other hand, could not get a single wicket.
Gujarat Titans got off to a very poor start. When Wriddhiman Saha got out after scoring just 4 runs. After this, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan batted well. Gill contributed 45 runs and Sudharsan scored 20 runs. Hardik Pandya was able to score only 28 runs but registered a unique record. He became the 6th player in the IPL history to register 2000 runs and 50 wickets. David Miller scored runs fiercely in the end and scored 46 runs off 30 balls before getting dismissed. Abhinav Manohar played an innings of 27 runs.
Head-to-head details
- Total matches played - 4
- Matches won by RR - 1
- Matches won by GT - 3
