Rashid Khan’s ‘I belong here’ gesture after his last-over miracle, Shubman Gill’s mad dash as GT end RR’s winning streak

Ranajit Dhar

getcricketnews|11-04-2024

Gujarat Titans required 35 off 12 balls with only four wickets in hand. Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan were the last recognised batting pair. Rajasthan Royals captain threw the ball to Kuldeep Seen when there was an over of the experienced Trent Boult up his sleeve. Was it the right call? In hindsight, maybe it was not. But Kuldeep was RR's best bowler of the night till then. He had picked up 3 wickets for 21 runs in his first three overs. The over started with a single. Kuldeep conceded a boundary off his second ball but another single off the next meant only 7 runs came from his first three deliveries - there was a wide in between. The next ball was where it all started to turn for the right-arm pacer and RR. He pitched it wide outside the off stump, Rashid got around it and smacked it over covers for a four. The siren went off. It was a no ball. He bowled another wide and his last ball was heaved away by Tewatia for boundary. 20 runs came from that over and RR now needed 15. Rashid and Tewatia were no strangers to pulling off last over miracles. But this time, they were up against Avesh Khan, RR's best death bowler of the season. Rashid hit two boundaries off Avesh, who was crippled by one less fielder in the boundary due to RR's slow over rate. In the end, it came down to two off one ball and Rashid's rasping cut for four sealed the deal for the Titans. After hitting the winning runs, Rashid pointed towards the pitch to suggest that he belonged there. The GT players, led by captain Shubman charged into the field. They had pulled off another heist. Video Link - https://twitter.com/i/status/1778137096764662066 Opener Sai Sudharsan (35 off 29) was playing well until he got trapped lbw while going for a lap shot. Matthew Wade was Sen's second victim as he played a wide ball on to his stumps. Abhinav Manohar misread the line and was also beaten for pace, becoming Sen's third scalp. The decision to give R Ashwin the 17th over proved expensive as the veteran spinner conceded 17 runs, bringing the equation down a gettable 42 off 18 balls.
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