Sanju Samson led Rajasthan Royals had a disastrous night in the Indian Premier League 2023 in Jaipur in the match against Gujarat Titans. The inaugural champions failed to capitalize on all of their departments as they set a very low total and failed to take wickets later on. As a result, GT reached 119/1 in just 13.5 overs while chasing a target of 119 runs.
Wriddhiman Saha smashed an unbeaten 41-run knock off 34 balls, while captain Hardik Pandya smashed an undefeated 39-run knock off 15 deliveries. The RR bowlers struggled, with just Yuzvendra Chahal picking up a wicket.
Former South African cricketer Shaun Pollock claimed on Cricbuzz that RR captain Samson’s tactics, particularly his use of spinners, surprised him. “I was a little bit surprised by some of the tactics employed there. After 1-2 overs, you realized that it wasn’t really swinging. So, they were late to get to the spinners to look if maybe if they could have had an impact, was a little bit of a surprise,” he said.
There wasn’t much on the surface: Shaun Pollock
Pollock further stated that because GT easily won the game, it demonstrated that Rajasthan simply had a batting collapse. “There wasn’t much on the surface, it is got to be disappointing to be bowled out for 118. The ease with which they reached 119 just shows that it was a batting meltdown rather than anything to do with the conditions”, he said.
RR skipper Sanju Samson earlier won the toss and chose to bat. RR, however, suffered a batting collapse and was bowled out for 118 in 17.5 overs. Samson was the lone notable batter, scoring 30 off 20 balls. Rashid Khan was in hot form for GT’s bowling unit, taking three wickets. For the visitors, Noor Ahmad grabbed two wickets.
Gujarat currently remains on top of the IPL 2023 points table after the win with 14 points in 10 matches. Rajasthan, on the other hand, is fourth with 10 points in 10 games. The defending champions will next play against Lucknow Super Giants on the 7th of May. RR will play against Sunrisers Hyderabad on the same day.
