We are in the end week of IPL and today’s match has kept us hooked. The contest between the best two teams of the tournament, Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans, is on as they compete to make their place in the finals. Playoff 1 is being played at Kolkata where GT has won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Rajasthan gave a target of 189 to Gujarat, chasing which are at 97 for 3 at the end of 10 overs. The team scored 50 runs in the last 5 overs.
Gujarat may have lost a wicket at the second ball of the first over but we can say after that they shifted to a beast mode. Opener Shubhman and new batter Wade hit big shots scoring 64 runs in the first 6 overs. The powerplay restriction clearly helped the batting team as bowlers failed to make an impact early on.
Ashwin bowled the 6th over of the innings and failed miserably to keep things tight as he got hit for 17 runs in the over. Wade continued with fiery batting and hit him for boundaries in 3 consecutive deliveries. Ashwin being a clever bowler he is, made a comeback in the 8th over. He only gave 4 runs and got Shubhman Gill out which shifted the momentum towards Rajasthan for a bit. Hardik Pandya came to the middle after the wicket.
7 runs came off the 9th over of the innings bowled by Chahal where he kept things tight. McCoy bowled the 10th over of the innings, and even after taking the wicket of Matthew Wade, it felt like an expensive over as 18 runs came off it. He bowled a no-ball and 3 wides in the over.
Gujarat Titans are scoring at a good pace and how they are batting is just what Ashish Nehra and GT fans would want from them. If they continue the same and don’t lose any wicket in 4 overs to come, they can consider themselves to be in a safe place to win. For Rajasthan, they just need 2 more wickets to get back to the game.
The run rate at the end of 10 overs is 9.45 while the required run rate is 9.44. Gujarat needs 85 runs off 54 balls. Hardik Pandya and David Miller are at the crease now.
