Hardik Pandya plays a captain’s innings to take Gujarat Titans to the top of the leaderboard

Gujarat Titans set a target of 193 runs for the Rajasthan Royals. However, the former IPL champions fell short of 37 runs in their bid to chase the target, and soon enough, they were displaced from their top spot on the leader board.

Gujarat Titans score their highest total in the IPL

Gujarat were asked to bat first by Rajasthan after they lost the toss. The Gujarat Titans had a shaky start in the batting department as they lost their opener Matthew Wade via run out by Rassie van der Dussen in the second over of the powerplay.

Vijay Shankar, who came to bat after Wade, instantly returned to the pavilion after getting caught by skipper Sanju Samson via a short off a length and way outside off delivery Kuldeep Sen in the 3rd over.

Things started to look a little better for the Gujarat Titans for the rest of the powerplay as captain Hardik Pandya brought some stability on the other end. However, the happiness was short-lived as Shubhman Gill was caught at long-on by Shimron Hetmyer.

But it was just setting up a great partnership as captain Hardik Pandya decided to play a responsible inning, and Abhinav Manohar built a 86 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. With this partnership, Gujarat Titans reeled in 130 runs in the first 15 overs.

Manohar(43) also left soon enough after getting caught by Ashwin. With Manohar gone, Gujarat decided to up the notch and started playing dangerously with David Miller in sight to help the unbeaten skipper.

With the help of the fireworks filled 31 off 14 balls innings by Miller, the Gujarat Titans were able to close in on a humongous score of 192 runs. Skipper Hardik Pandya was the highest scorer with 87 runs to his name.

Jos Buttler gives Rajasthan Royals a flying start

English Jos Buttler tried to give Rajasthan a fighting chance with his incredible batting. However, it wasn’t enough to take on such a huge target, and that too, alone.Jos Buttler scored a lightning-quick 54 runs from 24 balls, but his partners on the other end couldn’t repeat his success. Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed for a golden duck, where Ashwin was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 8 runs off 8 balls. Ramasthan tried to get back in the game. However, it wasn’t possible for them with wickets falling so quickly on both ends. Sanju Samson went back for 11 runs, whereas Rassie van der Dussen was dismissed for 6 runs of 10 balls.

The only other significant contribution came from Shimron Hetmyer, who scored 29 runs off 17 balls. The fall of wickets couldn’t be stopped as Rajasthan Royals were restricted for 155 runs while Yash Dayal and Lockie Ferguson clinched 3 wickets each.Rajasthan Royals lost the match by 37 runs, only to be replaced by their opponents on the leaderboard. Now, Gujarat Titans will look to keep their win streak intact against Chennai Super Kings intact. In contrast, Rajasthan Royals will try to get back to winning ways against the Kolkata Knight Riders on 18th April.