It was an evening of surprises! And we didn’t mind it one bit. First, April showers in Rajasthan, and then our Titans pulling off an incredible win to beat Rajasthan Royals by three wickets in TATA IPL 2024 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Wednesday (April 10).

In a match, where we were lagging behind the asking rate for a good part, some brilliant batting from our captain Shubman Gill (72), and then a late blitz from Rahul Tewatia (22) and Rashid Khan (24*) saw us get back to winning ways in this year’s campaign.

The rain may have delayed the start, but our Titans were on top of their game when action began in Jaipur. Against the only team yet to lose a match in TATA IPL 2024, Umesh Yadav was the first to get into the act as he dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal inside the Powerplay. Going for a pre-meditated scoop, Jaiswal mistimed his shot and Matthew Wade latched on to it with a superb catch behind the stumps.

 
 
 
 
 
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In the next over, magician Rashid took centre stage. He sent Jos Buttler packing to continue his dominance over the Englishman, getting him out for the fifth time in T20s. Apdo Afghan hero was outstanding with the ball, ending his spell with figures of 1-18. 

Chasing 197 on a good-looking batting track, we began strong with Captain Gill and Sai Sudharsan taking the fight to the Royals. They took on the likes of Avesh Khan and Keshav Maharaj while playing Trent Boult on merit.

But just as he looked to accelerate, Sai Su had to depart while Wade – playing his first match of the season – fell early. None of this bothered our skipper as he brought up his second fifty of the season, leading the fight from the front. Be it despatching R Ashwin to the boundary ropes or tonking Avesh and Maharaj for maximums, our leader never hesitated to make his intentions known early. 

 
 
 
 
 
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Captain Gill was dismissed in the 16th over with 63 runs still to get. It looked like a tall ask. But Tewatia and Rashid were up for the challenge. They took Avesh Khan for runs in his final spell and took the game to the final over. Though Tewatia was run out on the penultimate ball, Rashid ensured there were no more surprises in store. He swatted Avesh over backward point for the winning runs to give us our first away win of the season.