Afghanistan spinners Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad produced a scintillating spell to pave the way for an easy nine-wicket victory for Gujarat Titans in Jaipur on Friday.
After bundling out the Royals for 118 in 17.5 overs, the Titans reached the target in 13.5 overs. Wriddhiman Saha (41 not out) and Hardik Pandya (39 not out) led the chase after Shubman Gill was dismissed for 36.
Defending champions Titans are at the top of the table with 14 points from 10 matches while Royals stay on 10 points.
Noor Ahmad, in a picture posted on Twitter, after dismissing Devdutt Padikkal in Jaipur on Friday. PTI picture
Rashid claimed three for 14, and Noor finished with two for 25 in three overs. None of the Royals batters except for Sanju Samson (30) managed to reach a respectable score.
The Royals had started well reaching 50 for 2 after the Powerplay but last match centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal’s run-out triggered a collapse. The Royals could never really recover.
Devdutt Padikkal was looking to consolidate the innings but Noor uprooted his off stump. Dhruv Jurel opened his account with a reverse-swept four but he too could have been back in the dugout early had Rahul Tewatia managed to hold onto a tough chance at first slip.
The Titans were superb in every aspect on the field. Mohammed Shami got the new ball to move around while Rashid and Noor spun a web in the middle overs. Wriddhiman wasn’t involved in any dismissal but showed his class behind the stumps with an excellent one-handed take down the leg side.
The Royals’ decision to bat after winning the toss backfired as their batting crumbled against quality spin attack. They lost their nine wickets for a mere 71 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Hardik had Jos Buttler (8) caught by Mohit Sharma at short third man after the batter cracked two fours in a row in the second over. The pair of Samson and Jaiswal (14) tried providing them with momentum, but their 36-run stand was broken when Abhinav Manohar put in a dive to stop a cut from Samson.
Mohit threw the ball to Rashid, who broke the stumps with Jaiswal out from the crease.
Josh Little ended Samson’s promising start at 30 off 20 balls, getting the Royals captain caught inside the ring. Rashid then outgunned his counterpart Ravichandran Ashwin (2) for the majority of the eighth over, dismantling his off-stump off the final ball.
