AHMEDABAD: Rajasthan Royals held their nerve in a match that kept swinging until the last ball, using sharp deathovers bowling from Jofra Archer and Tushar Deshpande to beat Gujarat Titans by six runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday.Chasing 211, Gujarat were still alive deep into the final overs, thanks largely to Sai Sudharsan having laid a strong platform with a fluent 73 off 44 balls. Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada refused to surrender at the end but with 15 needed off the last two overs, Archer slammed the brakes on the chase. Deshpande then defended 11 in the final over with nerve and accuracy, giving away only four runs and dismissing Rashid to shut the door.That calm finish capped a superb recovery by Rajasthan after Sudharsan had threatened to take the game away. Gujarat were 107/1 in the 11th over and looked well placed. Sudharsan had found gaps with ease and scored freely square of the wicket. He first added 78 with Kumar Kushagra (18) and then kept the chase moving with Jos Buttler, who made a brisk 26 off 14 balls.The turning point came when Ravi Bishnoi broke through. Sudharsan fell trying to force the pace and Gujarat lost shape immediately.
Bishnoi then ripped through the middle order, dismissing Glenn Phillips (3), Washington Sundar (4) and Rahul Tewatia (12) to finish with 4/41. Nandre Burger also struck a key blow when he removed Buttler, and Gujarat slid from 127/2 to 161/7.
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Even then, the game was not over. Rashid made 24 off 16 balls and Rabada finished unbeaten on 23 off 16 as the pair added 43 for the eighth wicket. Rajasthan, though, stayed composed.
Archer mixed pace and length smartly in the 19th over and Deshpande backed him up with a superb final over full of yorkers and low full tosses that never allowed Gujarat room to swing freely.Earlier, Rajasthan’s total was built on a blazing start and a strong finish. Yashasvi Jaiswal struck 55 off 36 balls and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made 31 off 18 as RR raced to 69 in the Powerplay. Dhruv Jurel then took charge with a superb 75 off 42 balls, an innings that gave Rajasthan the push they needed after GT had briefly slowed them down.
