Jaipur, May 5

Defending champions Gujarat Titans defeated Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets in their Indian Premier League match here today. Batting first, RR lost wickets at regular intervals and were all out for 118 in front of their home crowd, with skipper Sanju Samson making a 20-ball 30.

For GT, star leg-spinner Rashid Khan of Afghanistan returned excellent figures of 3/14 in his full quota of four overs, while his compatriot Noor Ahmad claimed 2/25 in his three overs.

“I let Rashid handle that business (of dealing with the spinners) with Noor. They speak the same language, and nobody is better than Rashid. I think it’s very standard field when they are bowling,” GT captain Hardik Pandya said.

In reply, GT completed the chase of 119 with as many as 37 balls to spare. After Shubman Gill (36) fell in the 10th over, Wriddhiman Saha (41 not out) and Hardik (39 not out) took the team to victory. When Gill fell to Yuzvendra Chahal, Gujarat still needed 48 runs. Hardik, though, smashed Adam Zampa for three sixes and a four in the 11th over, which cost 24 runs, to virtually end the contest.

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals: 118 all out in 17.5 overs (Samson 30; Rashid 3/14); Gujarat Titans: 119/1 in 13.5 overs (Saha 41*, Hardik 39*, Gill 36).