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In the ninth game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 on Saturday, Rajasthan Royals (RR) retained their composure to defeat Gujarat Titans (GT) by an exciting six runs.

RR spinner Ravi Bishnoi’s four wickets proved to be the difference, despite a heroic effort by GT’s Sai Sudharsan and a late rally from Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada with the bat.

GT needed 11 runs in the last over, but RR’s Tushar Deshpande maintained composure, giving up four runs while also dismissing Rashid Khan (24 runs off 16 balls), who shared a 43-run stand with Rabada (unbeaten 23 off 16 balls).

In the absence of Shubman Gill, the Gujarat Titans opened the innings with Kumar Kushagra and Sai Sudharsan, chasing 211 runs. Early on, the pair showed promise as Sudharsan easily found boundaries to score 73 off 44 balls. He smacked nine fours and three sixes to anchor the innings and maintain the necessary rate. Before Kushagra was dismissed for eighteen, the opening partnership amassed 78 runs.

Ravi Bishnoi took his first wicket of the day shortly after Sudharsan lost his first.

Jos Buttler (26 off 14 runs) persisted for a while before being removed by Nandre Burger (1/29 in 3 overs). As GT struggled at 161/7 in 14.5 overs, Glenn Phillips (3), Washington Sundar (4), Rahul Tewatia (12), and Shaheukh Khan (11) were unable to make much of an impact.

Ravi Bishnoi was the main destroyer for RR, taking three more wickets following Sudharsan’s. Bishnoi, who was introduced as an Impact Player, destroyed the GT middle order and finished with an incredible 4 for 41 in 4 overs. He broke the back of GT’s middle order by dismissing Phillips, Sundar, and Tewatia.

With their 43-run partnership, Rashid and Rabada offered fight, but Deshpande’s last over was crucial as RR secured a thrilling six-run victory.

With four points from their first two games and a Net Run Rate (NRR) of +2.233, RR now leads the IPL 2026 points standings. On the other hand, it was GT’s second straight defeat and the first time they had lost their opening two IPL games.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the Royals’ openers, led the team to 32/0 in three overs earlier in the game when they were batting first.

The runs continued to flow in the next three overs, as the inaugural champions ended their power play at 69/0. In the very next over, stand-in captain Rashid Khan removed dangerous Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The 15-year-old departed after playing a brisk knock of 31 off 18 balls, with five fours and one six.

After the end of 10 overs, the Royals reached a commanding position at 97/1. During the second ball of the 12th over of Mohammad Siraj, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal reached his half-century in 32 balls.

However, Jaiswal’s knock was cut short immediately in the very next over of ace speedster Kagiso Rabada. The right-arm pacer removed the Royals opener for 55 runs in 36 balls, with three towering sixes and six fours.

During the second ball of the 14th over, pacer Prasidh Krishna then removed Kumar Kushagra for just eight runs. After the end of the 15th over, the 2008 champions reached 160/3.

In the following over, speedster Ashok Sharma took the wicket of left-handed batter Shimron Hetmyer, who scored 8-ball 18, including two sixes and one four.

During the first ball of the 17th over, Kagiso Rabada scalped the wicket of Donovan Ferreira (1), and on the fourth delivery of the same over, wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel completed his half-century in 29 balls, as the Royals reached 177/5.

Towards the end, Jurel was dismissed in the 20th over against Mohammed Siraj. The wicketkeeper-batter hammered 75 runs off 42 deliveries, including five fours and five sixes that helped the Royals post a challenging score of 210/6.

For Gujarat, Kagiso Rabada (2/42) scalped two wickets. Mohammed Siraj, Ashok Sharma, Prasidh Krishna and stand-in skipper Rashid Khan took one wicket each.

(With Inputs From ANI)

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