Gujarat Titans made some costly errors, including letting Riyan Parag (76 off 48 balls) off twice when he hadn’t even reached double figures, at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday. Yet, they emerged winners, beating Rajasthan Royals by three wickets in a game that turned out to be a thriller.

The in-form Riyan (76 off 48 balls) made sure to cash in on his let-offs and along with captain Sanju Samson (68 not out off 38 balls), helped his team post a formidable 196/3. Then, despite captain Shubman Gill’s 72 off 44 balls, the Titans were looking down the barrel, mainly due to Kuldeep Sen’s triple strikes in the middle overs.

But Sen, in the game’s penultimate over, was hit for 20 by Rashid Khan (24 not out off 11 balls) and Rahul Tewatia (22 off 11 balls) while also bowling wides and a no-ball. With 15 needed off the deciding over, Rashid hit Avesh Khan for two wonderful boundaries and despite losing Tewatia to a run-out dismissal, the Titans needed only two off the last ball of the game.

That last ball was short and offered Rashid (24 not out off 11 balls) room and width to slash hard. He did exactly so, hitting it for a boundary to pull off a sensational win for the Titans and handing the Royals’ their first loss this season.

The end result and Rashid hitting the winning runs should certainly make him feel much better as it was off his bowling that Riyan was dropped on nought and six by wicketkeeper Matthew Wade. However, the dropped catches aside, the ace Afghan spinner gave away only 18 off his four overs, taking the prized scalp of Jos Buttler.

In spite of this defeat at home, the Royals remain on top with eight points while the Titans, at No.6 now, have six points. Gill and Co. will not be too worried about their position in the standings though as four other teams (Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad) are also on six points each with net run rate being the only separating factor.

The Royals, at the end of the day, would be kicking themselves, especially for not being able to defend 35 off the last two overs. Pacer Sen worked up good pace, consistently clocking in excess of 140kmph. But even when there wasn’t too much pressure while going to bowl that penultimate over, he was still nervy.

Earlier, Riyan’s composure and excellent strokeplay stood out during his and Samson’s superb 130-run third-wicket stand. Regardless of his team’s defeat, Riyan’s batting is doing well in terms of brightening his prospects for bigger gains.

Consistency from hereon should broaden Riyan’s smiles.