Rajasthan Royals fans were counting on Jos Buttler, who won the Orange Cap last season, to chase down Gujarat Titans’ target of 178 at Motera Stadium. However, their hopes were quickly dashed by Mohammed Shami’s excellent seam bowling at the start of the innings.
After three overs, Shami’s figures were 3-1-9-1, including the prized wicket of Buttler. Buttler, who had started the season in fine form, struggled to time the ball properly against Shami’s accurate bowling.
Despite attempting to attack the bowler, Buttler failed to connect properly with the ball, resulting in four consecutive dot balls. On the fifth ball of the over, Shami bowled a good length delivery outside the off-stump, which seamed in sharply and hit the top of off-stump as Buttler tried to sweep the ball over short fine leg.
The wicket was a crucial breakthrough for the Titans and left Shami and Twitterati pumped up with excitement. Although Shami is not known for wild celebrations, he was visibly thrilled with the dismissal, fully aware of its significance.
Gujarat Titans set a challenging total, but Rajasthan Royals have a strong batting line-up to chase it down. In the first innings, the Titans lost their opener Saha early, but they quickly regained their composure. Buttler’s run-out of Sudharsan was a setback, but Pandya and Gill formed an impressive partnership. Unfortunately, Gill was caught at long-off by Sandeep Sharma, missing out on his fifty.