Rajasthan Royals 179 for 7 (Samson 60, Hetmyer 56*, Shami 3-25, Rashid 2-46) beat Gujarat Titans 177 for 7 (Miller 46, Gill 45, Sandeep 2-25) by three wickets

Rajasthan Royals had almost reached a point of no-return.

Their chase of 178 was going nowhere at 66 for 4. They needed a further 112 more off 48 balls. Twelve of those were to be bowled by Rashid Khan.

You sensed this was perhaps a task too steep, even for someone as pedigreed as Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer. But as Rinku Singh showed the other night at this very ground, it ain't over till it's over.

Samson went 6,6,6 in Rashid's third over that went for 20 runs, Hetmyer took the attack at the other end to his West Indies team-mate Alzarri Joseph. Within no time, momentum had swung the Royals way to such an extent that not even Samson's dismissal at that juncture seemed a bother.

Hetmyer stood tall to bring up his half-century off 25 balls, Dhruv Jurel contributed a cameo knock of 17 that was worth a lot more and R Ashwin came in to smack a six and a four in the penultimate over. All of this brought them within a couple of blows of victory.

With five needed off five, Hetmyer sealed a win that seemed improbable at one stage, by biffing Noor Ahmad for six as Royals had comeback from nowhere to pull off a heist that took them to the top of the IPL 2023 leaderboard five games in.

For Gujarat Titans, this was yet another heartbreak, eerily similar to the one they endured against Kolkata Knight Riders last week.

Titans' chaotic start

Wriddhiman Saha and B Sai Sudharsan were gone inside the powerplay as Titans limped to 42 for 2; the first time they didn't cross 50 in the first six overs this season.

Saha was out to a hoick that had three people going for it, only for a fourth, Trent Boult, take the rebound that followed a collision between Samson and Hetmyer. Sudharsan was run-out at the striker's end by a yard, after he coiled himself at the bowler's end; those precious seconds costing him the distance to make the ground.

Hardik-Gill get going

The pair set about rebuilding the innings, and one of the ways they went about it was to try and attack the spinners. Ashwin was hit for 27 in his first two; Gill used his feet to score against him, while Hardik took down Adam Zampa. The pair added 59 in just 33 balls before Yuzvendra Chahal deceived Hardik in flight to have him caught for a 19-ball 28.

Titans' slowdown

The next 30 deliveries following Hardik's dismissal went for just 31 runs as Royals brought their spinners into play superbly. Titans owed much of their momentum in the end to Abhinav Manohar and Noor Ahmad, the Afghanistan left-arm spinner, for his bag of tricks in place of Gill as the Impact Sub. After being hit for a six and four, he had Samson pick out long-off.

Hetmyer sees Royals home

Hetmyer was the perfect foil at the other end, feeding off Samson's energy with takedowns off his own, more so Joseph. There was a moment when Royals could've had Hetmyer, but for Shami who stumbled a few yards in at third man for a catch that may have been straight down his throat had he stayed on the ropes. Royals needed 62 off 29 then. It's a moment they could look back and wonder what could've been.

Dhruv Jurel, coming in at the fall of Samson's wicket, didn't take time settling in. His impeccable six-hitting and gamesmarts of using pace to good effect to play behind the wicket helped Royals quickly bring the deficit down.

Titans may have yet sniffed a chance when Jurel went for a 10-ball 17, but Ashwin wielded the long handle off his first two deliveries to bring the target down to single digits. From there on, Hetmyer wasn't going to let this slip away as Royals pulled off a comeback win.