Rashid Khan, Jason Holder shine as Gujarat Titans thrash Rajasthan Royals by 77 runs

A superb four-wicket haul from Rashid Khan and a crucial spell from seamer Jason Holder dismantled the Rajasthan Royals batting line-up, powering Gujarat Titans to a commanding 77-run victory in Jaipur on Saturday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).

A superb four-wicket haul from Rashid Khan and a crucial spell from seamer Jason Holder dismantled the Rajasthan Royals batting line-up, powering Gujarat Titans to a commanding 77-run victory in Jaipur on Saturday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Rashid turned the contest decisively in GT's favour with a brilliant spell that tore through the middle order, while Holder provided excellent support with three key wickets as RR suffered a dramatic collapse.

It was a dominant all-round performance from the Gujarat Titans, who thoroughly outplayed the Royals in Jaipur to climb to second place on the IPL points table. Chasing a massive target of 230, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi opened the innings for RR. Sooryavanshi got the innings underway, smashing a six on the second ball of the innings.

He continued his attack in the following over, smashing Kagiso Rabada for two massive sixes. In the following over, Sooryavanshi slammed Siraj for three boundaries before the veteran seamer got the better of RR's 15-year-old prodigy for 36 off just 16 balls, bringing Dhruv Jurel to the crease. Rabada, in the next over, got the better of Jaiswal for 3 off 4 balls, bringing Shimron Hetmyer to the crease. Jurel tried to keep RR in the chase, smashing 22 runs off Siraj in the 5th overs.

Rabada in the following over, sent back Hetmyer for just 6, who has struggled to get runs under his belt throughout the season, bringing Ravindra Jadeja to the crease. Jadeja started well, hitting a six and four off his first two balls. GT's star spinner Rashid Khan, right after the power-play in the 8th over, got the better of Jurel for 24, who had a promising start.

In the same over, Khan cleaned up Donovan Ferreira for just 4, bringing Shubham Dubey to the crease. After 10 overs, RR reached 99-5, needing 131 in balls. Khan struck again, removing Dubey for 15 in the 12th over, bringing Dasun Shanaka to the crease. RR seemed off during the chase, losing wickets at regular intervals.

Khan, in the 14th over, struck again, removing Jadeja 38 off 25 balls. In the following over, Jason Holder sent back Jofra Archer for just 5, and Tushar Deshpande joined Shanaka at the crease. Holder, in his follow-up over, got the better of Shanaka for 16 off 11 balls, bringing Brijesh Sharma to the crease.

In the same over, Holder removed Deshpande for 1 to square off the match for his side to register an emphatic win. Earlier in the match, fifties from captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, along with a late flourish from Washington Sundar, guided GT to a 229/4 in 20 overs against RR.

Put in to bat by RR's stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal, stepping in for the injured Riyan Parag, the Titans were propelled to a 200+ total by fifties from captain Gill (84 off 44 balls), Sudharsan (55 off 36 balls) and a late cameo of 37* off 20 balls from Sundar. Gujarat Titans capped off their innings in style, with Sundar and Rahul Tewatia smashing 21 runs in the final over bowled by Tushar Deshpande, who was struck for three sixes.

The Gujarat Titans openers, Gill and Sudharsan, started with a clear intent to exploit the powerplay overs, helped by an 18-run over bowled by RR's Jofra Archer, who conceded nine extras in the opening over. Both Gill and Sudharsan dealt in boundaries at regular intervals and guided GT's score after the Powerplay to 82/0.

While Sudharsan completed his fifty off 30 balls in the ninth over, captain Gill brought up the fourth fifty of this IPL season in the 11th over, also off 30 balls. However, RR's Yash Raj Punja broke the 118-run opening stand in the same over as he claimed Sudharsan's wicket. After 11 overs, GT's score was 119/1. Gill upped the ante in the very next over as he slammed RR all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for a six and a four in the 12th over. New batter Jos Buttler could not contribute much as he scored 13 runs off 10 balls before being dismissed by Jadeja in the 14th over. GT were 155/2 after 14 overs.

Gill continued to deal in boundaries at regular intervals and looked set for his first century of the season, but was dismissed by Brijesh Sharma in the 17th over, after scoring 84 runs off 44 balls, including nine fours and three sixes. GT breached the 200-run mark soon after Gill's wicket as they reached 204/3 in 18 overs.

While Brijesh Sharma picked up another wicket by dismissing Jason Holder, Washington Sundar took charge of the innings after Shubman Gill's departure. Sundar remained unbeaten on 37 off 20 balls, while Rahul Tewatia provided a late flourish with a rapid 14* from just four deliveries, including two sixes, as Gujarat Titans finished on an imposing 229/4 in 20 overs.

For RR, Ravindra Jadeja (1/34 in 4 overs) and Yash Raj Punja (1/37 in 4 overs) were the decent performers, while Archer (0/46 in 3 overs), Brijesh Sharma (2/47 in 4 overs) and Tushar Deshpande (0/52 in 4 overs) had expensive outings. (ANI)