IPL24: Rashid , Tewatia star in Gujarat stunning win over Rajasthan in a thriller

 

Gujarat Titans stunned hosts Rajasthan Royals and won the 24th match of IPL in Jaipur.  Rajasthan scored big runs thanks to Ryan Parag and Sanju Samson.  But they had to lose even after piling  up 196 runs.

 Rajasthan Royals lost by 3 wickets .  Sanju Samson lost for the first time in this year's IPL.  Gujarat Titans won the match with the last ball four by Rashid Khan on Wednesday.  Rajasthan scored 196 runs batting first under the influence of Ryan Parag and Sanju Samson.  But even after that big score , they had to lose.  Desperate fight of Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan helped Gujarat to turn the tide 

 It rained in Jaipur on Wednesday.  Because of that the game started 10 minutes late.  It rained even when Gujarat batted.  As a result, some time is lost between matches.  Gujarat captain Shubman won the toss and sent Rajasthan to bat.   The two openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) and Jos Buttler (8), however, could not score too many runs.  Rajasthan lost 2 wickets out of 42 runs.  From there, Parag (76) and Sanju (68) made a partnership of 130 runs and played several breathtaking shots .

 At the end of 15 overs, Rajasthan were 134 runs.  Sanju & Co showed where team can reach when teams have a wicket in hand.  Rajasthan scored 62 runs in the last 5 overs.  Besides Parag and Sanju, Shimron Hetmayer is also behind it.  He, entered the field with 8 balls left.  Scored 13 runs off 5 balls and made the team score 190 runs.

Parag scored 76 runs off 48 balls.  His innings had five blistering sixes and three fours.  Parag has been in form since the beginning of this IPL.  Scored 43 runs against Lucknow Super Giants.  He was unbeaten on 84 against Delhi Capitals in the second match.  Parag scored 54 runs against Mumbai.  He was also undefeated in that match.   Assam's batsman scored another fifty on this day.

 Sai Sudarshan and Shubman Gill started well for Gujarat.  They made a partnership of 64 runs.  Sudarshan was dismissed for an elegant 35 but Shubman was trying to survive till the end.  But with Mathew Wade (4) and Abhinav Manohar (1) not getting runs and bowled by rapid balls from Kuldeep Sen , pressure increased on Gujarat.  Shubman was fighting alone.  He scored a sparkling  72 runs off 44 balls.  But while playing a big shot, Shubman got stumped by Yuzvendra Chahal's ball.

 After Shubman got out, Gujarat fans almost gave up hope of a win.  But Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan did not give up hope.  They were finally trying.  They made an important partnership of 38 runs.  Gujarat needed 40 runs to win when Rashid came out to bat.  There were 15 balls in hand.  Rashid remains unbeaten with 24 runs off 11 balls.  The winning run also came from his bat. On the last ball of  the 19th over a six was hit by Rashid which brought down the target to 15 in last over . Credit must also be given to Tewatia.  He was run out after scoring 22 runs off 11 balls.  But Rashid won the team by hitting four in the last ball to script a sensational win from the jaws of defeat .  The Rajasthan Royals fans were stunned in silence after the loss .

Kuldeep Sen started the wicket-taking for Gujarat.  He also dismissed Wade and Abhinav after taking Sudarshan's wicket.  Shubman's wicket was taken by Yuzvendra Chahal.  He also dismissed Vijay Shankar.  Ashwin did not get a wicket but kept the runs at bay for a while.  Later though he finished with 40 runs in 4 overs.  Chahal took 2 wickets but gave 43 runs.  Keshav Maharaj came down as an impact cricketer and gave only 16 runs in 2 overs.  But Rajasthan suffered as Kuldeep and Avesh Khan conceded runs in the last three overs.  Despite having a pacer like Trent Boult, Rajasthan did not use him in the death overs.  That mistake had to be paid with the first loss of the IPL this time.