Rajasthan Royals’ IPL 2024 undefeated streak was stopped by Rashid Khan all-around performance, despite Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag’s strong batting performances.

Short Scorecard : Gujarat Titans 199/7 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 72, Sai Sudharsan 35; Kuldeep Sen 3-41, Yuzvendra Chahal 2-43) defeated Rajasthan Royals 196/3 in 20 overs (Riyan Parag 76, Sanju Samson 68*; Rashid Khan 1/18) by 3 wickets.

First Inning :

With a string of exciting off-side boundaries early on, Yashasvi Jaiswal looked to end his trend of poor scores, but he and Jos Buttler both fell inside the powerplay, leaving Royals 42 for 2.

While Noor Ahmad didn’t bowl with quite the same control of length, at times he looked every bit as dangerous as his Afghan spin twin at the other end. When Noor went a bit too full or too far down the leg side, Parag grabbed the opportunity to slog-sweep him.

That shot brought him three sixes and a four against the left-arm wristspinner. As the highlight of yet another outstanding performance, Parag smashed 33 off 17 against Noor to record his third fifty in five innings this season.

Early in their partnership, Sanju Samson didn’t have as much of the strike as Parag; he was on 29 off 20 when Parag scored his half-century off 34 balls. When he did manage to get on strike, though, he made a significant impression, showcasing his variety of strokes with two outstanding knocks off Spencer Johnson in the fifteenth over: two short balls, hit outside of extra-cover for four, then flat-batted over long-on for six.

Rashid was the one bowler that the third-wicket pair chose not to pursue. Samson scored five off six against him, and Parag scored 13 off 15. In his last over, he scored five singles and a dot.

Rashid Khan quota completed, the Royals struck quickly, scoring 57 runs in their final four overs. Shimron Hetmyer, who hasn’t had much opportunity to play this season, clattered an unbeaten 13 off 5 as he and Samson scored 24 off the final eight balls of the innings after Parag fell in the 19th.

Shimron Hetmyer’s raw power in the final over, along with Umesh Yadav’s poor lengths and lines, let the Royals smash 196 for 3.

Second Inning :

During their powerplay, the Titans produced some brilliant hits Sai Sudharsan uppercut Avesh for six, Shubman Gill blasted Maharaj inside-out over the cover boundary, but they lost wicket at 44 in less than eight overs.

Even their excellent overs weren’t turning into really big overs. For example, in the eighth over, Sudharsan hit two consecutive fours off Chahal, but Titans only managed 12 runs off the over and would have lost Sudharsan if Chahal hadn’t dropped a return catch.

The Titans needed 118 off the final 9.2 overs with seven wickets in hand, but it looked like they would not make it when Kuldeep Sen, playing his first match of the season, made a dramatic entrance by taking the wickets of Sudharsan, Wade, and Abhinav Manohar in the span of ten consecutive balls.

After hitting three fours in his first nine balls, Vijay Shankar displayed some initiative and creativity. However, he was sent out for failing to sweep off Chahal, and the Titans needed 86 going into their last six. Gill had not reached a boundary since the tenth over, sitting at 53 off 37.

At that moment, Gill shifted tactics, hitting Ashwin for two fours in the fifteenth over and two more fours to begin the sixteenth, releasing his arms to fully exploit Chahal’s line wide of off stump.

Then, perhaps a little too early, Gill stepped out, and Chahal saw him coming and shot it even wider, a true wide, to have him stumped for 72 off 44. It seemed to be the deciding moment.

Titans needed 59 at the start of the final four, and their extra strength in the lineup—they had brought in T20 hitters Manohar and Shahrukh Khan for the first time this season—started to show. Shahrukh and Tewatia hit Ashwin for a six and two fours between them in his final over, in the 17th over, making the score 42 off of 18.

In the 18th over, Avesh gave up just seven runs, but not before spearing in a full ball to trap Shahrukh leg before wicket while playing across it.

Sen’s 19th wicket turned the tide for the Royals, as Tewatia, Rashid Khan, and extras combined to cut 20 off the 35 needed by the Titans. Short and angled over the left-handed Tewatia, the final ball of that over produced a stunning shot under pressure that was flat-batted gently over mid-off.

Titans now needed 15 points out of 6. In their fanciful 2022 season debut, this team—which consisted mostly of the same players—had three times accomplished last-over chases of 15 or more. Tewatia and Rashid Khan, who finished second in their respective seasons in 2023 and 2021, were once again in the middle. Was there any chance the Titans wouldn’t win out?