Gujarat Titans spent their evening in Jaipur posting a total they thought would keep them out of harm’s way. But by the time 15.5 overs of the second innings were bowled and Rajasthan Royals’ had come at par to Titans’ total, a teenager had thrown the laws of probability, rationality, and cricketing logic out of the window.
Blasting, Slow, Steady, and Quiet
Opening the batting, Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan began like a well-rehearsed violinist duo: steady, spontaneous, and hardly missing a note. Gill looked to have everything in his command, and while Sudharsan was given a reprieve early on, he survived to sew another routine 50-plus runs partnership with Gill.
Halfway through, GT were standing at 93/0 and looked determined for another gigantic total. However, Sudharsan’s wicket in the 11th over filled the air with the kind of somber feeling that stopped GT from continuing to roll their juggernaut. Wanindu Hasaranga stifled the chances of any boundaries in the middle overs and for a moment, RR seemed back in the wya they haven’t done this season.
Gill, remaining unperturbed by the slowdown, broke the silence with two maximums off Yudhvir Singh, and Jos Buttler joined Gill in taking down Hasaranga and Jofra Archer in quick succession. GT’s innings, briefly tumultuous, seemed to be on up again.
Yet, despite mid-innings rejuvenation, the Royals managed to choke the runs once again with Archer and co. giving just 21 runs in the last two overs. GT ended their innings on 209/4. The target did look formidable, but, as history would soon see, not formidable enough.
The Suryavanshi Storm
Mohammad Siraj bowled the first ball of the chase with Yashasvi Jaiswal at the other end. He took a quick single, sending the teenager Vaibav Suryavanshi to face Siraj. Two re-balls and a dot later, Suryavanshi dispatched the ball down the ground with disdain all over his face. The teenager was here to plunder, and plunder he did in the next 15 overs, which were bowled in Jaipur.
Jaiswal was given a life early, and he made the most of it by witnessing Suryavanshi’s onslaught firsthand. Sixes, Fours, mishits that somehow cleared the field, timed cuts, the teenager was putting on display the insolence that usually makes the stuff of dreams.
Seeing the RR pair treated GT’s pacers like background noise, Rashid Khan took a shot at sanity at brought in Washington Sundar in the powerplay, only to see him get hit for 21 runs in one over. Suryavanshi reached his fifty, consuming only 17 runs, making it the fastest ever scored in the IPL.
There was a short period of silence where Prasidh Krishna and Rashid Khan put their heads together to get a reprieve for two overs. It barely postponed the inevitable. While they still showed Rashid some respect, his copatriot Karim Jannat was taken to the cleaners in front of a house-full Jaipur stadium. A six off a flick. A four swatted above the deep point. Another six thumped towards deep square leg. A four off an edge. An intended four over long off. And finally, a maximum dispatched over deep midwicket to end Jannat’s misery.
At this stage, Suryavanshi was only six runs away from his century, and RR, 66 runs from their win after ages. Even with the prodigy gone shortly after his blasting century, RR batters did not falter.
The chase after that was merely a formality. The show was long done. Jaiswal and Riyan Parag calmly completed the job in 15.5 overs, securing not just a win and two points, but also the quickest 200+ run chase in IPL history.
