"Last ball of game": Skipper Samson on what went wrong for RR against GT

JAIPUR: A visibly stunned Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson opened up on what went wrong for his team against the Gujarat Titans (GT), weakening their hold over the game off the very last ball proved to be the difference between the two teams in the end.

A fine half-century by Shubman Gill and brilliant finishing by Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan helped Gujarat Titans (GT) secure a thrilling three-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Jaipur on Wednesday.

Rashid put the proverbial icing on the cake, bringing out his full range of strokes even as the pressure was amped up, taking GT home on the last ball with a cracking four.

Samson said as a losing captain it was the "hardest job in the league" to speak after defeat where the game ended in edge-of-seat thriller. The RR skipper also lauded Avesh Khan bowled the last over when RR needed 15 runs in 6 balls. In the last over drama, Rashid hit two fours in the first 3 balls of the final over. He then took a single to see GT needing 4 off the final 2 balls. Tewatia then hit Avesh over the mid-off fielder and got run out while trying to take the third run. With GT needing 2 off the final ball, Rashid slammed a four over over backward point.

Talking about where they lost the game, Samson said in a post-match presentation, "The last ball of the game (laughs). To be honest, it is very hard to speak at this moment. The captain has the hardest job in the league to speak after losing the game and to tell where we lost is tough. Maybe after a few hours, I can tell. You have to give credit to the Gujarat Titans for the way they batted, bowled and fielded."

Samson said he was optimistic about their target for winning the match and believes that RR will "learn from" the defeat and move on.

"We will learn from this and move on. When I was batting, I thought something around 180 would be a fighting score. I thought 197 was a winning score. There was no dew and the wicket was a bit dry and low. With our bowling attack, we should have done it but they batted well. It was not easy to go hard enough at the start of our innings. We paced our innings well. 197 at Jaipur, without dew, you will take it any day," he added.

Recapping the match, GT opted to bowl first after winning the toss. After losing Buttler and Jaiswal early, RR recovered with a massive 130-run third wicket stand between skipper Sanju Samson (68* in 38 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Riyan Parag (76 in 48 balls, with three fours and five sixes). RR posted 196/3 in 20 overs.

Rashid Khan (1/18) was the pick of the bowlers for GT. Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma also took a wicket each.

In the run chase of 197, GT started off with a 64-run partnership between Sai Sudarshan (35 in 29 balls, with three fours and a six) and skipper Shubman Gill. Wickets kept falling from the other end and Gill scored 72 in 44 balls, with six fours and two sixes before perishing at the score of 133 as the fifth wicket in the 16th over.

A brief cameo by Shahrukh Khan (14 in eight balls, with a four and six) and later a 38-run partnership between Rahul Tewatia (22 in 11 balls, with three fours) and Rashid (24* in 11 balls, with four boundaries) infused life into the match again. Rashid finished off the chase with a four on the final ball.

Kuldip Sen (3/41) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/43) were the top bowlers for RR. Avesh Khan also took a wicket.

GT is now in the sixth spot in the table, with three wins and three losses, giving them six points. RR have suffered their first loss after four wins and with eight points, they are still at the top of the tally.