Jaipur: Gujarat Titans came back from nowhere to pull off a thrilling three-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday, ending the hosts' unbeaten run in the tournament.
Sanju Samson (68 not out off 38) and Riyan Parag (76 off 48) continued their red-hot form in the competition with disdainful half-centuries as Royals reached 196/3 after being put in to bat.
Shubman Gill (72 off 44) fought a lonely battle for the major part of Titans' innings before Rahul Tewatia (22 off 11) and Rashid Khan (24 not out off 11) pulled the rabbit out of the hat in a last-ball finish.
Titans needed 73 runs off the last 30 balls but managed to bring the equation down to 15 off the last six. An over rate penalty forced Royals to keep one extra fielder inside the circle.
Avesh Khan, who has proved his worth in the death overs, was again tasked with bowling the 20th over. In the end, it came down to two off one ball and Rashid's rasping cut for four sealed the deal for Titans. Rashid had returned miserly figures of 1/18 from his four overs and was named player of the match for his all-round show.
Playing his first game of the season, Royals pacer Kuldeep Sen struck thrice in a searing spell before crumbling under pressure in the penultimate over.
The decision to give R Ashwin the 17th over too proved expensive as the veteran spinner conceded 17 runs, bringing the equation down a gettable 42 off 18 balls.
Earlier, Titans had it all under control in the powerplay before skipper Sanju and Parag combined to snatch the momentum from the visitors. Royals smashed as many as 123 runs in the last 10 overs.
Parag, who has taken his game to the next level and is thriving in his new batting position of No. 4, scored his third half-century in five innings.
He shared a 130-run stand off 78 balls with Sanju, who has also been in sublime touch since the start of the tournament.
Matthew Wade dropping Parag on 0 and 6 off star spinner Rashid cost Titans dearly as the in-form batter found the big hits at will afterwards.
The 22-year-old hammered five sixes with three of them coming against left-arm spinner Noor Ahmed via the sweep shot.
Parag brought up his fifty with a flat six over long-on off pacer Mohit Sharma.
Sanju, on the other hand, started with back-to-back fours off Umesh Yadav before taking a backseat to watch Parag go about his business.
Besides catching, Titans' ground fielding was equally poor.
Sanju reached his third half-century with a straight boundary off a Mohit full toss that should have been caught by Rahul Tewatia at long-on.
In the penultimate over, Parag pulled a bouncer off Mohit over mid-wicket for another maximum.
Early on in Royals innings, Yashasvi Jaiswal (24 off 19) played some exquisite strokes on the off-side before falling to a pre-meditated scoop off Umesh.
His opening partner Jos Buttler went for an expansive drive off Rashid in the sixth over but ended up getting caught at first slip.
