Rajasthan Royals vs Gujarat Titans was on in the 24th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024). The match between the Sanju Samson-led team and Shubman Gill & Co. was played on Wednesday, April 10, at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
GT invited RR to bat first in the rain-delayed game. The home team made a major change to their XI as the injured Nandre Burger was replaced by Kuldeep Sen. Meanwhile, GT also made a couple of big changes by replacing Matthew Wade and Abhinav Manohar with Kane Williamson and BR Sharath.
Batting first, Yashasvi Jaiswal played brilliantly and attacked the GT bowlers. He seemed to have great touch unlike the last match and made 24 quick runs before departing. His teammate Jos Buttler, unlike the last game, failed with the bat and was again dismissed by Rashid Khan for 8 runs.
After losing the first few matches, the onus fell on captain Sanju Samson and the in-form Riyan Parag to stabilize the innings and take the team to a good total. The duo did not disappoint and even exceeded expectations with their tremendous partnership.
Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag added 130 runs together in just 78 deliveries to put their opponents on the defensive. Sanju remained unbeaten throughout the innings, but Mohit Sharma dismissed Riyan Parag in the 19th over, thanks to Vijay Shankar’s excellent catch at the boundary. In the end, Shimron Hetmyer (13) also contributed as RR posted 196/3 on the board.
Riyan Parag scored 76 runs off 48 balls, including 3 fours and 5 sixes, while Sanju Samson scored 68 runs off 38 balls, including 7 fours and 2 sixes.
Chasing the target, GT’s opening duo of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan gave their team a great start by adding 64 runs. After Sai was dismissed, Shubman Gill took over the responsibility and deepened the game.
Shubman Gill scored 72 runs off 44 balls, with 6 fours and 2 sixes, before Keshav Maharaj and Yuzvendra Chahal planned a trick to outsmart the Gujarat Titans (GT) captain. It seemed done and dusted for GT, but Rahul Tewatia (22) and Rashid Khan (24*) stepped up and snatched victory for their team from the jaws of defeat. Gujarat Titans won the match by 3 wickets to end Rajasthan Royals’ winning streak in the Indian Premier League 2024.
The toughest job in the tournament when a captain loses the game and has to say where he missed – Sanju Samson
After the end of the match, Sanju Samson was asked where Rajasthan Royals (RR) lost the match and he responded with a strangely hilarious comment. Sanju Samson said:
“I think on the last ball of the game, Gujarat needed 2 runs and they won. It’s very difficult to talk at the moment. The toughest job in the tournament when a captain loses the game and has to say where he missed.”
Sanju Samson added that he would be in a better position to point out where Rajasthan Royals (RR) lost the match once emotions calmed down. However, he gave credit to the Gujarat Titans (GT) for putting up a good fight in the match. Sanju Samson said:
“When the emotions subside, I will be able to say it clearly. I have to give credit to the Gujarat Titans. That is the beauty of this tournament.”
Sanju Samson also said that he was confident of winning the match after scoring 196 runs as they thought a total of around 180 would be enough to get the win. Sanju Samson stated:
“I will have to learn and move on. While batting I thought something around 180 would have been a fighting score. I thought 196 was a winning score. Without dew, our bowling line-up should have done it. That’s how it was.” “It’s not easy to push hard at the start of the innings. 197 in Jaipur, no dew, we’ll do it any day.”