Opener Sai Sudharsan struck his third half-century of this season to guide Gujarat Titans to the top of the IPL table with a 58-run thrashing of Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday.
The left-handed Sudharsan smashed 82 off 53 balls as Gujarat posted 6-217 after being invited to bat first at their home at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
Pace bowler Prasidh Krishna then stood out with figures of 3-24 to help bowl out Rajasthan for 159 in 19.2 overs after Shimron Hetmyer top-scored with 52.
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Gujarat registered their fourth successive victory in five matches to lead the 10-team table. Inaugural champions Rajasthan slipped to their third defeat.
Gujarat, who won the IPL in their debut season in 2022, had a disappointing start when Rajasthan’s England import bowler Jofra Archer bowled skipper Shubman Gill with a 147 km/h (91.34 km/h) delivery that rattled the off stump.
But Sudharsan after a cautious start put on key stands, including a 80-run second-wicket partnership with England’s Jos Buttler, who hit 36, to lay the foundations for the mammoth total.
“I always try to see what I can do better, trying to improve my awareness and skill,” Sudharsan said after being named player of the match.
“I feel I work a lot on basics that is helping me be a versatile batter.”
Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana broke through as he trapped Buttler lbw, a decision denied by the on-field umpire but Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson successfully reviewed the call.
Theekshana struck another blow to cut short big-hitter Shahrukh Khan’s knock on 36 when he got the burly batter stumped out.
West Indies left-hander Sherfane Rutherford began with a six off Theekshana but survived just three balls for his seven when Sandeep Sharma got him out.
Sudharsan kept up the attack until his departure in the 19th over off Tushar Deshpande who struck another blow six balls later to send back Rashid Khan for 12.
Sudharsan has amassed 273 runs in five matches and is second behind leading batter Lucknow Super Giants’ Nicholas Pooran, who has 288 runs.
Left-hander Rahul Tewatia made Gujarat finish strong in his unbeaten 24-run blitz that got 16 runs from the 20th over off Sandeep.
Rajasthan lost regular wickets in their chase after opener Yashasvi Jaiswal got out in the second over to left-arm medium-pace bowler Arshad Khan. Jaiswal made six.
Samson kept up the flow of runs but found little support from the other end as Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel got out with Rajasthan in trouble at 68-4 in the eighth over.
Samson and Hetmyer attempted to rebuild as they put together 48 runs but Krishna got the captain caught at short third man for 41.
“When you lose games, we also feel should we have chased?” said Samson.
“But we want to be a team that wins games while chasing, not just win batting first.”
Rashid soon got his second wicket with his leg spin and Krishna struck twice, including getting Hetmyer out after his 50, as the chase fizzled out.
Gujarat left-arm spinner Sai Kishore wrapped up the win with his two wickets.
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