(Hit)myer Seals It For the Royals

IPL16: Gujarat Titans (GT) vs Rajasthan Royals (RR)- Match 23 : Ahmedabad

It was 3-0 in favour of the mighty Gujarat Titans, when Rajasthan Royals met them for the 4th time last night at Ahmedabad. In terms of present form, both RR and GT have been in sublime touch, occupying the top positions on the IPL16 Table. Expectations of an  exciting contest was high and ultimately it turned   out to be a terrific bout with punches and counter-punches from both sides. In the end only one survived.

Trent gives a Boult Blow as GT Slow Down

GT were batting first and as has been the routine, Trent  Boult struck in his very first over getting the better of  Vriddhiman Saha. Saha skied a mis-hit and though RR almost made a mess of it, Boult hung on to the ball, to draw first blood. Sandeep Sharma has been bowling well for RR too and with an imposing spin challenge from Chahal, Ashwin and Zampa, GT on the back of some clean finishing from Miller, could manage not more than 177, a decent score but nothing to scare away the opposition particularly of the quality of RR. GT were a step behind at the break already.

Shami-Pandya land some heavy Punches

Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been the opening pair of this year’s IPL. Tormenting and pulverising bowling attacks in their aftermath. They have been simply dazzling with their strokeplay. However Shami and Hardik Pandya had other ideas. Both of them bowled brilliantly to say the least. Hardik accounting for Jaiswal, while Shami knocked over Buttler. RR were 2 down for nothing and had lost their openers in a jiffy. The tables had turned. GT was on top and RR struggling.

Sanju Braves Rashid

Devdutt Padikkal and Sanju Samson went in for a course correction, but the asking rate began to shoot. To make things worse RR lost Padikkal and a completely off colour Ryan Parag to some good steady bowling. Shimron Hetmyer joined Sanju Samson and a massive fight back ensued. Rashid Khan, the most respected leg spinner in the World bore the brunt of the counter attack from Sanju. 20 runs were taken from one  Rashid Khan over and GT began to lose their grip on the match.

Shimron Shimmers as Rookie Noor gives Hope…but only just.

Noor, the 18 year old rookie from Afghanistan came on as an impact player and got Sanju to pull GT back into the match, but Hetmyer on the other side was punching back with all his might. He was keeping RR in the hunt. Dhruv Jurel played an exquisite 18 run cameo ( hitting Shami for a terrific six ) before losing his wicket and then Ashwin too struck two mighty blows before perishing himself. RR were losing wickets but not the momentum. Hetmyer was striking with aplomb whom GT could not dislodge. Noor bolwed the last over with just 7 required and Shimron Hetmyer nailed it in just two balls getting a well deserved 50 and the Player of the Match Award.

RR displayed  great temperament and batting depth to beat GT at their home ground. A wonderful contest indeed. RR moved to the top of the table with 8 points and look seriously tough to beat. 

The South Indian Derby between CSK and RCB is scheduled this evening at Bengaluru. The news is that the game is already a sell out. A Monday night Blockbuster in the offing .

IPL reviews @ rizkhan.in

Featured Image : Shimron Hetmyer/pic courtesy myKHEL