After GT’s whirlwind start, 220 was a base expectation from their innings. By the end of the 19th over, they were on track to finish under it, stuck on 208 for 4. Brijesh Sharma had plucked out Jason Holder’s wicket and given away just four runs in the 19th, varying his pace and bowling into the blockhole. However, his gold-dust over was reduced to a footnote when Tushar Deshpande missed his lines in the last over. Rahul Tewatia maneuvered around the crease to leather back-to-back sixes, before Washington Sundar hit one of his own to drag GT to 229 for 4.

It is the stuff of routine now. The bowler chugs in, bowls a perfectly okay delivery, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi sends him into the stands first-ball. Saturday night was no different, as Sooryavanshi clobbered Mohammed Siraj across the line over the long-on boundary. Next ball, a Siraj yorker rifled towards the stumps, and Sooryavanshi inside-edged onto his foot and fell to the ground.

Sooryavanshi looked set for another big start, despite limping between wickets, blasting Siraj for three fours in four deliveries. On the fifth delivery, he was rushed into a hook off a fiery bouncer that carried to square leg. In the blink of an eye, Sooryavanshi went from zero to 16-ball 36, then from the middle to the dugout.

Siraj (1 for 55) and Kagiso Rabada (2 for 33) became the first pair of IPL bowlers to bowl through the powerplay four matches in a row. Jurel ventured down the track to plunder a 22-run over against Siraj before the powerplay ended. Rashid would pluck him out soon anyway.

With Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal gone, the onus was on Jurel and Ravindra Jadeja – who clobbered six and four off his first two deliveries – to play against type and shift into fifth gear. But Rashid got the ball to jag and turn off a pitch like no other spinner on the night. He also bowled more legbreaks than googlies – a rarity for him – to keep the batters guessing.

Once Jurel perished, Donovan Ferreira saw the ball turn the other way, past an innocuous front-foot defence. Harsh Dubey soon went for another missed slog, Rashid’s third consecutive dismissal to rattle the stumps. Rashid wore a wry smile when Jadeja swiped him over backward square leg for six in the 14th over. Next ball, Jadeja was trapped lbw in front of the stumps as the ball spun into his pads.

Holder soon mopped up the tail, taking the final three wickets in five deliveries and RR had lost their third game in four matches.

Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 229 for 4 in 20 overs  (Sai Sudharsan 55, Shubman Gill 84, Joss Buttler 13, Washington Sundar 37*, Rahul Tewatia 14*; Brijesh Sharma 2-47, Yash Raj Punja 1-37, Ravindra Jadeja 1-34) beat Rajasthan Royals 152/10 in 16.3 overs  (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 36, Dhruv Jurel 24, Ravindra Jadeja, 38, Shubham Dubey 15, Dasun Shanaka 16; Mohammed Siraj 1-15, KagisoRabada 2-33, Rashid Khan 4-33, Jason Holder 3-12)  by 77 runs

[Cricinfo]