Gujarat Titans spinner Rashid Khan said on Wednesday that he told his batting partner Rahul Tewatia during the final overs of their chase against Sunrisers Hyderabad not to panic if they face a dot ball or two and instead focus on hitting the next ball and finishing the match. Half-century by Wriddhiman Saha (68) and fiery cameos by Rahul Tewatia (40*) and Rashid Khan (31*), guided Gujarat Titans to a thrilling five-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday. The high-scoring match was settled in the last ball of the last over.
“I told Rahul (Rahul Tewatia), not to panic if we face a dot ball or two and instead focus on hitting the next ball and finishing the game,” said Khan during a post-match discussion with all-rounder Rahul Tewatia and captain Hardik Pandya.
Khan said that it felt good finishing on the winning side.
Questioned on his consistent final over heroics, Tewatia said, “The good part is that the captain and coach are showing so much trust in me. It feels good to be on the winning side. My efforts will be that if such situations keep coming, we always finish on the winning side.”
Coming to the match, fifties from Abhishek Sharma (65) and Aiden Markram (56) and a last-over cameo from debutant Shashank Singh (25*) powered SRH to 195/6 in 20 overs.
Chasing 196, Gujarat started at a great pace as the openers Saha and Shubman Gill built a 50-run partnership in just 6 overs. Hyderabad then got a breakthrough after Umran Malik dismissed Gill in the 8th over and Gujarat were 69/1.
Saha was joined by Hardik Pandya and the duo tried to anchor the innings for some time but it was Umran Malik again who sent the GT skipper back to the dugout in the 10th over of the innings with only 10 runs in his kitty.
David Miller joined Saha at the crease and the duo made up for the lost momentum. Saha thrashed Hyderabad bowlers to every corner of the ground to bring his half-century in 28 balls. But it was Umran Malik, who had the last laugh as he bowled Saha out for 68 runs, in the 14th over and left Gujarat at 122/3.
Umran Malik struck again and took back-to-back wickets of David Miller and Abhinav Manohar in the 16th over with Gujarat now struggling at 140/5. Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan then joined hands at the crease and brought some hope back for their side.
The duo started smashing the Hyderabad bowlers and brought the momentum back to their side. With 22 runs left of the last over, Tewatia smashed the first ball of Marco Jansen out of the stands for a six. It was followed by a single which brought Rashid Khan to the crease.
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Rashid followed the footsteps of Tewatia and he smashed the third delivery for a six. With nine runs required off 2 balls, Rashid hit two back-to-back sixes and took Gujarat to victory.
With this win, Gujarat Titans are at the top of the points table with 14 points and will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 30. On the other hand, SRH is at third position in the points tally with 10 points and will take on Chennai Super Kings on May 1.
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