Gill, Rashid and Holder seal four in a row as Gujarat thrash Rajasthan to climb to second
Gujarat Titans rolled into Jaipur with a chance to push back into the IPL 2026 top two and walked out with a 77-run win that did exactly that. A 229-run total powered by Shubman Gill's 84, a Sai Sudharsan fifty and Washington Sundar's late assault was always going to be a tall ask, and Rashid Khan made sure the Royals never recovered. Yashasvi Jaiswal's first night as a stand-in captain ended with Rajasthan bowled out for 152 inside 17 overs.
Gill's 84 sets the tone
Jaiswal won the toss on debut as captain, with Riyan Parag missing the game after pulling his hamstring against Delhi Capitals, and put Gujarat in. The decision unravelled in the powerplay. Gill came out batting like a man who had heard the table talk, picking the gaps for nine fours and three sixes on his way to 84 off 44 balls. Sai Sudharsan kept pace at the other end with 55 off 36, and the partnership set the tone Gujarat's middle order rarely needs more of.
The death overs belonged to Washington Sundar. He finished 37 not out off 20 with three sixes, and the home bowlers had no answer. Brijesh Sharma was Rajasthan's most successful bowler with 2 for 47, while Jofra Archer leaked 46 from his three overs without a wicket. Gujarat closed on 229 for 4, the kind of total that turns a chase into a damage-limitation exercise.
Sooryavanshi flies, then the chase falls apart
For four overs, Rajasthan looked like they belonged in a 230 chase. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old who already has two IPL hundreds to his name, flogged 36 off 16. Then he holed out, and the rest of the order was left to face Rashid Khan with the required rate climbing past twelve.
Rashid finished with 4 for 33, ripping through the middle order with the kind of spell that decides knockout-stretch matches. Jason Holder mopped up at the back with 3 for 12 in two and a bit overs as Rajasthan went from 87 for 4 to 152 all out without much resistance. Ravindra Jadeja's defiant cameo at the back end was the only thing keeping the margin from getting uglier. Rashid was named player of the match.
Gujarat second, Rajasthan running out of road
Four wins on the spin lifts Gujarat to 14 points and second place behind Sunrisers Hyderabad on net run rate. Rajasthan stay on 12 with three games left, level with Royal Challengers Bengaluru and now a place behind Punjab Kings on 13. Jaiswal's first night in charge ended with the kind of scoreline a stand-in captain wants to forget. Parag's hamstring will dictate when he returns, but Rajasthan's playoff math is starting to look like a problem that even a fully fit XI may not solve.
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