Ahmedabad, Apr 10: B. Sai Sudharsan continued his outstanding run in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 by making a majestic 82, while pacer Prasidh Krishna picked 3-24 in a collective bowling performance and propelled Gujarat Titans to secure an emphatic 58-run win over Rajasthan Royals in Match 23 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday.

On a red-soil pitch, Sudharsan mixed inventiveness, timing, and placement in equal measure to enthrall everyone in his 53-ball stay at the crease, laced with eight fours and three sixes in front of and behind the square, especially on the off-side.

He also shared stands of 80 and 62 with Jos Buttler and Shahrukh Khan, who made 36 each. Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan smashed brilliant cameos at the end to take GT to a solid 217/6. In reply, Krishna was effective with his lengths and picked his scalps via short balls on a red-soil pitch as RR were bowled out for 159 in 19.2 overs.

For RR, barring Shimron Hetmyer (52), Sanju Samson (41), and Riyan Parag (26), none could get into double digits, as GT’s fourth successive win of the tournament now takes them to the top of the points table.

Jofra Archer was fast and furious in his spell, including clocking 152.3 kmph. Luckily, Sudharsan got a top edge on a pull shot, before blasting Fazalhaq Farooqi through the square boundary on the off-side for two boundaries. But Archer struck when he got a 148 kmph scorcher to the castled, Shubman Gill through the gate for two.

Buttler countered Archer’s fire by driving him through cover for four before Sudharsan was at his inventive best in ramping Farooqi and lapping Tushar Deshpande for two sixes. Sudharsan wowed everyone with his timing and placement by unfurling a straight drive and a late cut off Deshpande for two boundaries, as GT closed the power-play at 56/1.

Buttler’s sublime run continued when he scooped and pulled Farooqi for back-to-back boundaries, before unleashing a backfoot drive and hitting over Maheesh Theekshana’s head for the same result. After slog-sweeping Theekshana for four, Sudharsan got his fifty in 32 balls, though the off-spinner had Buttler trapped lbw for 36 while trying to pull.

With Sudharsan going great, Shahrukh injected some more momentum by taking back-to-back fours off Farooqi, before lofting Deshpande for six. He then pulled Theekshana for six, before getting a brace of boundaries via inside and outside edges. But Shahrukh missed a full and wide delivery from Theekshana and was stumped for 36 by Samson.

The wide line again worked for RR as Sherfane Rutherford gave a thin edge behind off Sandeep Sharma. Sudharsan flexed his muscles by slicing and driving Sandeep for back-to-back boundaries, before nicking behind off Deshpande for 82, after being dropped on 81.

Deshpande struck again on his last ball when a diving backward square leg caught a rampaging Rashid. By then, GT had crossed 200, and Tewatia smacked two fours and a six to ensure the IPL 2022 winners ended with another tall total on their home turf.

In defence of a tall total, GT were on the money from the word go. Yashasvi Jaiswal slashed to deep third off Arshad Khan, while Nitish Rana’s uppercut was caught in the same region off Mohammed Siraj. Parag started the fightback by flicking Siraj for six, while Sanju Samson slashed, punched, and drove off Arshad for two fours and a six.

Parag lofted Siraj over mid-on for six, while Samson swiped him over mid-wicket for four. Parag’s sizzling run continued as he swiped and clipped Krishna for six and four respectively, as RR ended power-play at 57/2. But shortly after, Parag gave a faint edge behind to Jos Buttler off impact player Kulwant Khejroliya, and was dismissed for 26.

Rashid Khan joined the wicket-taker's party when Dhruv Jurel mistimed his pull on a googly and was caught at deep mid-wicket. Samson and Hetmyer brought RR back on track – the latter heaved Rashid for three boundaries before the duo took 16 runs off Khejroliya.

But Krishna ended the brief fightback by getting some extra bounce and having Samson edge to short third man for 41. Rashid struck again by trapping impact player Shubham Dubey lbw for just one. Hetmyer continued to wage a lone battle by being dropped twice and bringing up his fifty off 29 balls by driving Prasidh through extra cover for four.

But Krishna effectively sealed the game in GT’s favour by removing Archer and the dangerous Hetmyer, who pulled to deep backward square leg for 52, in the same over. R Sai Kishore took out the remaining wickets to ensure GT continued their winning run.

Brief scores:

Gujarat Titans 217/6 in 20 overs (B. Sai Sudharsan 82, Shahrukh Khan 36; Maheesh Theekshana 2-54, Jofra Archer 1-30) beat Rajasthan Royals 159 all out in 19.2 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 52, Sanju Samson 41; Prasidh Krishna 3-24, R Sai Kishore 2-20) by 58 runs

(IANS)

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