IPL 2023: Afghan spinners Rashid, Noor shine as Gujarat Titans bowl out Rajasthan Royals for 118

Jaipur, May 5 (IANS) Stunning bowling display from Afghan spin duo Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed helped Gujarat Titans (GT) bowl out Rajasthan Royals (RR) for a paltry 118 in 17.5 overs in an IPL 2023 match at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, here on Friday.

Rashid (3/14) and Noor (2/25) once again proved to be lethal with their attacking bowling skillset as the duo rattled the Royals' batting line-up in the middle overs.

The Royals had a slow start as they lost Jos Buttler early. Yashaswi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson went for a few big hits to add crucial runs before the former got run out and the hosts posted 50/2 in the PowerPlay.

Titans continued to put pressure on the hosts with their clinical bowling and RR failed to establish a stable partnership, as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Hardik Pandya struck in the second over to dismiss Buttler after conceding two successive boundaries. Then, Jaiswal and Samson off a flier collected 26 runs in the next two overs.

An over later, RR suffered another blow when Samson tried to guide the ball past backward point and Jaiswal set off for a single from the non-striker's end and Samson was out of the crease, but saw the fielding and went back. Jaiswal was already at his end by then and the fielder had ample time to relay a calm throw to the non-striker end and the opener ended up getting run out.

The next over Joshua Little sent Samson back and Royals were three down in seven overs. Sanju moved across the stumps to flick to mid-wicket and it climbed on him, resulting in a top edge swirling over cover and Hardik collected a good catch.

Rashid posed another threat in the eighth over as he cleaned up Ravichandran Ashwin cheaply for 2 before trapping Riyan Parag in the 10th over to reduce RR to 72/5.

Noor too joined the party and struck in his two overs to put a further dent in RR innings with the wicket of Devdutt Padikkal for 12. Soon, he trapped Dhruv Jurel lbw in the 14th over. The next over Rashid removed Shimron Hetmyer, reducing the Royals to 96-8.

After an impressive opening over, Shami came into the attack in the 17 over and dismissed Trent Boult on fine yorker.

The next over Adam Zampa lofted the ball from the toe end of his bat and the fielder ran back from cover for a catch but it was out of his reach. Abhinav Manohar came sprinting to his right to collect the ball, firing in a sharp one-bounce throw at the striker's end stumps to deny Zampa a second run and get him out as Royals were bowled for 118 in 17.5 overs.

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 118 all-out in 17.5 overs (Sanju Samson 30 off 20; Rashid Khan 3/14, Noor Ahmad 2/25) against Gujarat Titans

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