Rajasthan Royals thrashed Gujarat Titans by three wickets on Sunday to get their fourth win of IPL 2023 and claim the top spot on the points table. The defending champions had posted a total of 177/7 in 20 overs after David Miller and Shubman Gill smashed 46 and 45 runs respectively. Later, the Royals chased down the target in 19.2 overs, riding on their skipper Sanju Samson's magnificent knock of 60 runs, followed by a 56-run knock from Shimron Hetmyer. Apart from this, all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin's 10-run cameo also made the proceedings easier for the Royals.
In the 19th over, when RR needed 23 off 12 balls, pacer Mohammed Shami dismissed Dhruv Jurel for 18 on the second delivery. It was then Ashwin, who came up and smashed Shami for a boundary and a six on back-to-back deliveries. Ashwin's carnage left GT skipper Hardik Pandya disappointed and he let his frustration known to Shami after the latter was hit for a boundary.
Notably, Shami went on to dismiss Ashwin on the very next ball but it did not make any difference as Shimron Hetmyer went on to finish the game with four deliveries to spare.
With the win, the Royals have broken the jinx of not having previously beaten the Hardik Pandya-led side in three outings and topped the table with eight points.
The victory will be all the more sweet considering the 2008 IPL champions were reduced to 4 for 2 at one stage, losing Yashasvi Jaiswal (4) and Jos Buttler (0), and were able to manage just 26 runs in powerplay.
The 26-year-old Hetmyer turned the complexion of the game, smashing an unbeaten 26-ball 56. The knock was studded with two fours and five maximums, and came at a time when things looked uphill for the Sanju Samson-led side.
(With PTI Inputs)