Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals, 23rd Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

The final of 2022 was a pretty drub affair, but this game today more than compensates for it. Cricket of the highest quality played between two opponents who matched each other stride for stride. Ultimately, Rajasthan got over the line... It was a pleasure covering this game for y'all. May the IPL long produce such thrillers. On that thought, this is Saurabh Shankar signing off on behalf on Abhinand Raghavendran, Nikhil Jadhav and Venky.

Shimron Hetmyer | Player of the Match: I don't have any words. Difficult to win against these guys, they beat us thrice last year but today was sort of a revenge. I practise these situations, it helps when you practise with that mindset of knowing we are few wickets down and chasing 100 with 8 overs to go. (On Noor Ahmad bowling the final over) I was actually pretty happy to be honest, he bowled well throughout so the first ball all I was thinking about was getting that double and take it from there.

Sanju Samson: When you play quality opponents on a quality wicket, you get such games. Very happy to compete in such a game and come out on top. It was important to rotate our bowlers, they were playing some quality cricket and we had to respect that. The whole team came up well today and we could restrict them to around 170. The start we had, it shows how good a wicket this was. The new ball the quality of swing bowling was good and we had to respect that. But today Zampa coming was a way to match-up with the opponents. He was the match-up for Miller and almost got the wicket, but the catch was dropped. (On Hetmyer) He doesn't like easy situations, we like putting him in such situations because he usually wins us games from such situations.

Best batting strike-rates in the IPL (min. 500 runs)
177.09 - Andre Russell
166.86 - Liam Livingstone
162.32 - Sunil Narine
157.63 - Nicholas Pooran
157.20 - Shimron Hetmyer

Padikkal: It got a little tensed in the end, especially when the match went down to the wire, but we had the batter out there who could finish it off. We had to keep the scoreboard ticking, and we made sure to get that odd-boundary. It was moving around a but in the first few overs, but thankfully we got through those overs. It's unbelievable how he (Hetmyer) does such things, such a great talent to have in our side.

Hardik Pandya: To be honest no (didn't expect the loss after the powerplay), but that's the beauty about this game. The game is never over till it's over, another lesson for us. (Noor Ahmad) He's someone who's difficult to pick, got us the big breakthrough but the other bowlers didn't execute. Body is good, everything is good. It's a very long tournament. A lot of matches left, we still need to play a lot of group cricket even if we had won today. (On Gujarat's score) I felt short. After I got out, they bowled a couple of good overs, but we should have gone a little harder and got to 200. We did cover it well but when I was watching from outside, I did feel that we were 10 runs maybe short.

RR counter-attacked with Padikkal who struck a few sixes in the powerplay, but he fell to Rashid shortly after the time-out. Riyan Parag had another forgettable day with the bat, but skipper Sanju Samson stood tall. He took on the main wicket-taker Rashid and came out smiling, as he smashed three consecutive sixes off him. Shimron Hetmyer at the other end augmented his reputation as a finisher by taking on Alzarri Joseph. GT threw a curve ball in the form of mystery spinner Noor Ahmad, and the impact sub got the wicket of Samson. But RR were relentless in their fight, as Dhruv Jurel and Hetmyer never let the momentum drop. Then came Shami's final over, where literally every ball told a story in itself. Ultimately, the equation was down to 7 off the last over and Hetmyer smoked one over cow corner to ensure RR finally get the better of Gujarat. Why Mohit Sharma bowled just two overs after conceding just seven runs will remain a mystery...

23:09 Local Time, 17:39 GMT, 23:09 IST: These two teams are ranked first and third on the points table, and they were the finalists last season. Today's game shows us exactly why. One of those games where you have to write the cliche 'cricket is the real winner.' Stunning game at Ahmedabad, it was a boxing contest between two heavyweights - punch and counter punch and ultimately Hetmyer delivered the knockout blow. This chase started with a sensational display of swing bowling, as temporarily we were transported to Lord's on an overcast morning thanks to Pandya and Shami. They picked up Jaiswal and Buttler for a cumulative score of one run.

Noor Ahmad to Hetmyer, SIX, He's done it!! Take a bow Shimron Hetmyer, punches the air and yelps in delight. Too short by Noor Ahmad, allows Hetmyer to go back and slam his pull over cow corner. A flat six, over a region where there was no deep fielder... What a sensational chase by Rajasthan!!

Noor Ahmad to Hetmyer, 2 runs, short and wide, cut square of the wicket. Slightly to the right of Rashid and his throw is too wide. Allows Hetmyer to come back. This is also his 50.

Noor Ahmad [2.0-0-21-1] is back into the attack

Noor Ahmad for the last over. What a big gamble by Pandya.

This Shami over deserves a web series in itself, every ball had so much drama!!

Shami to Boult, no run, yorker that goes between stumps and a backing away Boult. Swing and a miss...

Trent Boult, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Shami to Ashwin, out Caught by Rahul Tewatia!! Jesus, how many more twists are we going to get. This was actually the worst ball of the over. It was full outside off, there to be hit but Ashwin slices his drive down the throat of Tewatia at backward point. Madness!! Ashwin c Rahul Tewatia b Shami 10(3) [4s-1 6s-1]

Shami to Ashwin, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Shami to Ashwin, SIX, wow! Short pitched and Ashwin was ready. Very deep in his crease and pulled over deep mid-wicket. Just over the boundary ropes, but they still count as six...

Shami to Ashwin, FOUR, another twist!! Back of length outside off, Ashwin stays deep in his crease and cuts it behind square on the off side. Four more...

Ravichandran Ashwin, right handed bat, comes to the crease