Rashid Khan continues to be a cheat code in Twenty20 cricket.
On Wednesday, he proved to be instrumental for Gujarat Titans but once more as they sneaked in a three-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in a thriller on the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.
Although the numbers he returned with weren’t mind-boggling per se however the Afghan stood out with a cheap bowling figures of 1/18 and an unbeaten cameo of 24 off 11 that took the workforce throughout the road within the chase.
Gujarat Titans 🤝 Clinching Thrillers
The Titans defeat Rajasthan Royals by three wickets!
Shubman Gill (72) led from the entrance earlier earlier than a surprising bowling spell by Kuldeep Sen (3/41) practically derailed the chase.
Rashid Khan (24*), nonetheless, performed a… pic.twitter.com/eERUO4oTfd
— The Area (@thefield_in) April 10, 2024
Earlier, within the recreation, it was turning out to be fairly the season for Riyan Parag, who notched up his third fifty of the season in opposition to Gujarat Titans.
It grew to become clear early in Royals’ innings that the floor that was a bit two-paced and Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad working in tandem didn’t make issues simpler. Royals have been all the way down to 42/2 in 5.4 overs and the heavy lifting needed to be taken over by the center order.
Khan’s leg-spin was wanting troublesome however Matthew Wade dropping Parag twice off his bowling didn’t assist.
Sanju Samson (68*) and Parag (76) went on to sew a stable 130-run partnership to assist their workforce navigate after a turbulent begin to finally end with 196/3.
Chasing 194, Gujarat Titans have been off to a gradual begin with Shubman Gill (72) and Sai Sudharsan (35) opening the innings. Nevertheless, Kuldeep Sen delivered an impactful spell to derail the chase. In simply his second supply, he had Sudharsan strolling again.
Nevertheless, his second over was even higher as he ended up momentarily derailing the Titans’ chase at 83/3 in 11 overs. He first delivered a wobble seam wanting size supply angled away broad of off, and Matthew Wade went laborious on the reduce, leading to a thick inside edge that rebounded again to hit center and off. His third wicket got here off a 144 kph seam-up supply that beat Abhinav Manohar and left his bat hanging on the again foot.
The Titans misplaced their decrease center order wickets too with Yuzvendra Chahal chipping in earlier than cameo-men Rahul Tewatia and Khan did their factor.
Turning level of the match
Earlier than the penultimate over, Titans wanted 35 off 12. Royals had the higher hand with Sen wanting assured after a fiery spell however Tewatia and Khan took him down for 20 runs in his remaining over.
Royals’ have been handed a slow-over fee penalty and in consequence, Avesh Khan needed to bowl the ultimate over with solely 4 males out on the boundary.
Within the remaining over, Khan carved Avesh out for a boundary over sq. leg within the very first supply. He then sneaked in two runs when Avesh tried a yorker in his second supply. Within the third, Khan sliced a drive that went previous the keeper on the correct and similar to that, the stress was on Royals. Titans wanted 5 off 3.
Within the subsequent supply, the Titans managed to sneak in simply the only however the equation was all the way down to 4 off 2.
After which, aven as Tewatia was run-out within the penultimate supply, Khan stored his cool to hit a 4 when the equation demanded 2 off the ultimate ball.
The Area’s participant of the match
One must really feel for Riyan Parag, who’s (not so quietly) going about his enterprise being Rajasthan’s go-to man this season. His innings virtually proved to be the distinction but once more however Rashid Khan’s all-round present finally trumped the Royals’ efforts.
The leg-spinner first bowled with unbelievable management to concede simply 18 runs in his 4 overs. He picked up the wicket of Jos Buttler however might have had yet one more if not for the dropped catches.
Whereas the 4 different Titans’ bowlers went for an financial system fee of over 9.20 overs, Khan bowled at a miserly financial system fee of simply 4.50 overs.
To high it up, his cameo off 24* off 11 ensured Titans chased their second highest goal within the Indian Premier League and handed table-toppers Royals their first defeat of the season.
‘Again to my greatest’
When requested to decide on which little bit of his all-round present was he extra happy by, Khan answered by saying that it was the victory that was most pleasing. Nevertheless, he admitted to feeling higher about getting his bowling rhythm again.
Was struggling a bit with the bowling and was comfortable I used to be hitting the correct areas at this time, and that made me happier, and gave me vitality in my batting. I’ve not bowled a lot within the final three or 4 months and I used to be simply attempting to get used to bowling once more. Making an attempt to get that really feel again in my fingers as I had simply misplaced a bit little bit of grip. I felt I used to be a bit bit again to my greatest.
— Rashid Khan on his bowling efficiency after the match
