Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia pulled off a brilliant chase against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur today (April 10), scoring 40 off the last two and a half overs.
Chasing 197 in a rain-effected game, Gujarat Titans seemed to be going nowhere at one stage. After 14 overs, their score read 111-4, requiring another 86 runs in six overs. When Shubman Gill was dismissed on the second ball of the 16th over, the game looked dead and buried.
Shahrukh Khan, playing his first game of the season, walked out at No.7 as an Impact Player and played an important cameo of 14 off eight. His wicket brought Rashid to the crease with GT needing another 40 runs off 15 balls.
Rashid-Tewatia turn back the clock
Having finished off multiple run-chases for Gujarat in the last couple of seasons, Rashid and Tewatia had another familiar task at their hands.
The last three balls of the 18th over fetched only five runs, which included two wides. With 35 needed off the last two overs, Kuldeep Sen, who had figures of 3-0-21-3 till then, was given the ball.
After a single and a wide, Tewatia managed a boundary off the second legal delivery of the 19th over. Two balls later, Rashid smashed one over extra cover for another four. Sen overstepping didn’t help RR’s cause as the free hit fetched two runs before he bowled another wide way down the leg side. With 19 needed off seven, Tewatia found an important boundary to bring the equation down to 15 off the last over.
Rashid brought out his trademark no-follow through shovel over the leg side on the first ball of the final over, bowled by Avesh Khan, to get a boundary. After digging out a yorker for two, Rashid somehow managed to edge another yorker just past the wicketkeeper for a streaky four to bring the equation to a much-safer looking five off three.
A single off the next ball brought Tewatia back on strike, who lofted a short ball outside the off stump over mid-off. Jos Buttler made a valiant effort to stop the ball inches from the boundary, threw it back to the bowler, and got Tewatia run out attempting a third run.
Avesh had point and third man up for the last ball. With two needed, he dished out a short and wide ball which Rashid duly smashed past point for four to take GT to a memorable victory.
Rashid Khan 🤝 Rahul Tewatia
A thrilling win for Gujarat Titans courtesy of the all-rounder duo 🔥#rashidKhan #RahulTewatia #RRvsGT #IPL2024 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/xrNJSpWRSJ
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) April 10, 2024
Rashid remained unbeaten on 24 off 11 while Tewatia made 22 off 11 before being run out off the penultimate ball of the match.
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