Gujarat Titans kept their climb toward the IPL 2026 summit firmly on track with a decisive 77-run victory over Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur on Saturday. After being asked to bat, the Titans posted 229/4, powered by a brilliant innings from captain Shubman Gill, who struck 84 off 44 balls, and Sai Sudharsan, who made 55 off 36. Washington Sundar then injected late momentum with a brisk 37 not out from just 20 deliveries, ensuring GT set a target that felt out of reach even before the chase really gathered pace.
Rajasthan’s response never truly looked settled, despite early sparks from teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, whose 36 came off 16 balls. However, the dismissal that arrived in the third over disrupted whatever rhythm RR were trying to build. Mohammed Siraj’s charged celebration after the breakthrough reflected how critical that moment was, and the impact was immediate—Sooryavanshi’s departure effectively stalled the Royals’ momentum at the very stage when they needed acceleration.
The drama around that wicket has since grown beyond the boundary ropes. A viral clip shows GT coach Ashish Nehra making a gesture toward Siraj just a ball before the dismissal. In the footage, Nehra appears to point toward his head, implying that the plan was for Siraj to attack with a bouncer aimed at the youngster. That instruction, whether read as instinct or design, paid off instantly: Siraj executed the idea perfectly and Sooryavanshi was dismissed on the very next ball.
With that loss, Rajasthan slipped to fifth place after recording their fifth defeat in six matches, and their net run-rate took a significant hit as the chase collapsed. Earlier in the day, GT had laid the foundation for the total from the powerplay onwards. Gill and Sudharsan combined to hammer 82 runs in the opening phase, with both batters finding boundaries at regular intervals and giving the Titans a platform that proved difficult to dismantle.
Gill reached a major milestone during the innings, completing his fourth half-century of the season off just 30 balls. Sudharsan matched the achievement as well, and together the two struck five sixes, creating the kind of scoring tempo that naturally pushes teams toward 200-plus totals. The Royals eventually clawed back one breakthrough when wrist spinner Yash Raj Punja struck in the 11th over, removing Sudharsan caught.
Still, the Titans’ middle overs remained under firm control. Gill stitched key partnerships—adding 32 runs in that phase with Jos Buttler and also forging a rapid alliance that produced 35 off only 18 balls with Washington Sundar. Gill, however, was dismissed in the 17th over, and Sundar ensured the innings didn’t lose momentum after that, pushing the total beyond 200 and making the finishing work easier for the later overs.
In reply, Rajasthan were bowled out for 152 in 16.3 overs. The collapse was swift, with multiple top-order batters departing early: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sooryavanshi, Shimron Hetmyer, and Dhruv Jurel all fell within eight overs, leaving the chase without the structure required to chase down a score of 229.
