Rajasthan Royals (RR) slumped to their fourth defeat in six games as they lost to Gujarat Titans (GT) by 77 runs in their IPL 2026 encounter on Saturday. To make matters worse, RR suffered a defining low, equalling their own forgettable record. RR allowed GT to score 229/4 in 20 overs, making it the seventh time this season that they’ve conceded 200 runs or more. It is the joint-most number of times that a team has conceded 200 or more in a single IPL season. Notably, RR also conceded 200-plus on seven occasions in IPL 2025.
RR vs GT, IPL 2026: As it happened
Rashid Khan took four wickets for 33 runs as Gujarat Titans bowled out Rajasthan Royals for a 77-run win in the IPL on Saturday.
Kagiso Rabada also took two wickets and Jason Holder polished off the tail with three as Gujarat dismissed Rajasthan for 152 runs, after wonder-kid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored 36 off 16 balls.
Earlier, skipper Shubman Gill hit 84 and Sai Sudharsan made 55 as Gujarat notched up 229-4 batting first.
Rajasthan’s reply started in a quickfire manner as Sooryavanshi hit three fours and three sixes. After his dismissal, the hosts folded against Khan’s guile.
Gujarat climbed to second in the points’ table with their sixth win in 11 games. Rajasthan slipped to fifth after their fifth loss and their net run-rate took a huge hit.
Gill’s fourth half-century of the season came off 30 balls, and he put on 118 runs with Sudharsan for the first wicket.
That opening stand laid the base for a tall total. Gujarat scored 82-0 in the powerplay, with Gill and Sudharsan hitting five sixes between them.
It was a fourth half-century of the season for Sudharsan. He had also made a century against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Gujarat’s 19-year-old wrist spinner Yash Raj Punja got the breakthrough as Sudharan was caught in the 11th over.
Gill added 32 with Jos Buttler (13) and another 35 off 18 balls with Washington Sundar, before he was caught in the 17th over.
Sundar’s cameo – 37 not out off 20 balls – including three sixes, pushed Gujarat past 200. Rahul Tewatia (14 not out) applied the finishing touches with two sixes in four balls.
“They batted really well,” said Rajasthan captain Yashasvi Jaiswal. “There are days when you cannot bowl how you want to.”
In reply, Sooryavanshi put Rajasthan on course initially with 38 runs off only 17 balls.
The turning point came in the third over when the 15-year-old holed out off Mohammed Siraj.
Rabada then struck twice in successive overs. He had stand-in skipper Yashasvi Jaiswal caught for three, and then removed Shimron Hetmyer for six.
Dhurv Jurel responded with 24 off 10 balls, hitting three sixes in Siraj’s third over. But Khan bowled him in the eighth over to start Rajasthan’s collapse. Two balls later, Khan bowled Donovan Ferreira for four.
The Afghanistan veteran spinner was nearly unplayable, running through the middle order, as Rajasthan slipped to 136-7 in 13.5 overs.
Khan broke a 24-run partnership between Ravindra Jadeja (38) and Shubham Dubey (15), dismissing both batters in successive overs.
“I tried to hit the right lengths in this game. Modern day cricket requires many variations,” said Khan.
He has 15 wickets so far this season after taking only nine in 15 matches last season and 10 the year before.
“The last couple seasons were unusual for me,” he said. “I had only two months to get back to the field after my injury. I have been more consistent this season.”
Holder finished the job with a quick three wickets for 12 runs across 15 deliveries. It was Gujarat’s biggest win (by runs) in the IPL.
With AFP inputs
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