IPL 2023, GT vs RR | Who said what ft. Shimron Hetmyer, Sanju Samson
Rajasthan Royals scripted a hard-fought three-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans on Sunday in Match 23 of IPL 2023. Shimron Hetmyer and Sanju Samson were the heroes for the Royals, as they notched quick half-centuries to help their side see off a challenging 178-run target with four balls to spare.
Shimron Hetmyer’s blistering 26-ball 56 not out, coupled with Sanju Samson’s stylish 32-ball 60 guided Rajasthan Royals to chase down a stiff target against reigning IPL champions Gujarat Titans on Sunday evening at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Despite being reduced to 3/2, they managed to get the job done against an all-star bowling attack, consisting of Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Hardik Pandya, Mohit Sharma, and of course, Rashid Khan.
For the Titans, David Miller’s 30-ball 46 and Shubman Gill’s 34-ball 45 were clinical to post 177/7, as the spin-heavy RR attack, which included Ravichandran Ashwin, Adam Zampa, and Jason Holder, kept them in check in the major part of the innings. But among them, Sandeep Sharma was the most impressive bowler, having returned 2/25 off his four overs which included both the dismissals of Gill and Miller.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Hardik admitted he did not expect they would end up on the losing side after the Powerplay, when the Royals were almost down and out, batting on 26/2. At the same time, he mentioned they could have scored a bit more in the first innings.
That's the beauty of this game. The game is never over. That was the message to the boys as well. The game is never over until it's over. So I think this is one more lesson for us. I felt we were short some runs at the innings break. They bowled some good overs but we should have gone harder to put the game [out of reach] and get a 200 total. When I was watching outside, I did feel we were maybe 10 runs short.
Samson, the winning skipper, was delighted to restrict the Titans under 180 and also highlighted how it feels when you end up on the winning side at a such large stadium.
When you play some quality opponents on a quality wicket in a quality stadium like this, you expect a great match. I'm very happy to be on the winning side. I think it was very important to rotate the bowlers. They were going hard at our spinners. After the timeout, they were playing some quality cricket shots and we needed to respect that but I'm very proud of our team for restricting them to a 170-odd score. With the quality of bowling they had in the Powerplay, we had to respect them. But we knew we could play some shots later on.
Hetmyer, the man who set the stage on fire in Ahmedabad, was thrilled to defeat Gujarat Titans, against whom they suffered three defeats last year, including a heartbreaking loss in the final.
I just really wanted to win against these guys because they beat us three times last year so it was a bit of revenge really. I just practice it really. It helps to practice with that mindset that you're a couple of wickets down and you need 100 runs with eight overs left. You just try to program your mind that way and so far it's working. I was pretty happy, to be honest to be facing [a spinner for the final over]. I was just focused on getting a double off the first ball and then seeing what happens after that.