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IPL 2025: Gujarat Titans go top with win over Rajasthan Royals

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A magnificent 82-run knock – which included eight fours and three sixes – by classy opener Sai Sudharsan who’s in sublime form, was the centrepiece of the Gujarat Titans ’ (GT) comprehensive 58-run win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday night.

Asked to bat first by the Royals, GT, powered by Sudharsan’s brilliance and their positive approach, raced away to 217 for six in 20 overs. Under the pressure of a big target, RR folded up at 159 in 19.2 overs, with only Shimron Hetmeyer (52, 32b, 4x4, 3x6) and skipper Sanju Samson (41, 28b, 4x4, 2x6) offering some resistance.

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Giving another evidence of his much-improved T20 bowling, GT pacer Prasidh Krishna took 3 for 24 in four overs. Experienced leggie Rashid Khan shrugged off his poor run with a fine spell (2 for 37 in four overs) and left-arm spinner Sai Kishore (2 for 20 in 2.2 overs) kept his good run going.


On a roll currently, Gujarat Titans thus recorded their fourth straight win to go top the table. RR suffered their third defeat in five matches this season.

Apart from a fine knock, Sudharsan took two good catches in the deep to send back Dhruv Jurel (5) and Maheesh Tkeeksshana (5). Batting like a dream, the 23-year-old has made a case for himself for a recall into India’s T20 side, having racked up 273 runs in five matches at an average of 54.60 and a strike rate of 151.66. He is the second-highest run-getter in IPL 2025 so far, with only Lucknow Super Giants’ Nicholas Pooran (288) ahead of him.

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While Sudharsan ‘anchored’ GT’s charge with his third half-century of the season, Jos Buttler (36, 25b, 5x4) and Shahrukh Khan (36, 20b, 4x4, 2x6) chipped in with power-packed cameos. Rahul Tewatia (24 not out, 12b) provided the finishing touches in the end.

The beauty of Sudharsan’s knock was that he enabled GT to overcome a fiery spell by RR’s English paceman Jofra Archer, who dislodged Shubman Gill’s off stump in the third over, beating the batter who missed the line of an in-swinger completely. Then, a 152.3 kmph thunderbolt by Archer, who has bounced back amazingly well after being clobbered in his first two matches, saw the ball take a rushed Sudharsan’s top edge on the way to the boundary, but the youngster wasn’t rattled.



A blazing counterattack by Sudharsan and Buttler saw the duo adding 80 runs for the second wicket in just 47 balls. Archer greeted the former England white-ball captain with a sharp bouncer, but Buttler responded with a cracking cover drive. Letting himself loose, Sudharsan charged down to Fazalhaq Farooqi and ramped him over third man for a six in the fourth over and then ramped Tushar Deshpande for another maximum in the next over.

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The 23-year-old left-hander later sliced Sharma for a six in the 17th over, displaying the power of his steely wrists.
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