Rajasthan Royals vs Gujarat Titans IPL 2023 Highlights: A captain’s knock from RR skipper Sanju Samson (32-ball 60) and late blitz from Shimron Hetmyer (26-ball 56) powered Rajasthan Royals to three-wicket win over defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (April 16). By virtue of this win, Rajasthan retained the number one spot in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Points Table. The finalists of previous IPL season are now ranked first and third on the points table.

Chasing 178 runs for the win, Rajasthan got off to a slow start as the last year’s runners-up scored 26 runs in first 6 overs after losing crucial wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler. Padikkal tried turning things around by hitting a few sixes, but fell to Rashid shortly. Riyan Parag continued his lean form in IPL 2023 by getting out cheaply, but captain Sanju Samson stood tall. The equation went down to RR 7 needing off the final over in which Shimron Hetmyer smoked a huge six to seal a memorable win for his team.

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Earlier, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and invited Gujarat Titans to bat first. Batting first, Gujarat were off to a poor start. With two of its in-form players back in the pavilion — Wriddhiman Saha (4) and young Sai Sudarshan (20) — defending champions Gujarat seemed vulnerable at the end of powerplay. Shubman Gill (45) and Hardik Pandya (28) then came together to save the day for Gujarat, stitching a solid 59-run stand to keep their team alive in the match, not just turning the things around but also setting the stage for a full-scale onslaught in last few overs of the innings.

South Africa’s David Miller (46 off 30 balls) and Abhinav Manohar (27 off 13) provided the final flourish, with a 45-run partnership that was studded with three boundaries and five maximums to power Gujarat Titans (GT) to 177 for seven.

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Rajasthan Royals Playing XI: Sanju Samson (captain and wicketkeeper), Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa and Sandeep Sharma.

Impact Players: KM Asif, Donovan Ferreira, Joe Root, Navdeep Saini, M Ashwin and Devdutt Padikkal.

Gujarat Titans Playing XI: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (Wicketkeeper), Sai Sudarshan, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, David Miller, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, and Alzarri Joseph.

Impact Players: KS Bharath, Mohit Sharma, Jeshua Little, Jayant Yadav, Noor Ahmed and Dasun Shanaka