After the dismissal of Vaibhav Sooryvanshi in the game against the Gujarat Titans, Mohammed Siraj was visibly relieved with the wicket. Prior to that delivery, Ashish Nehra pointed to his head to tell Siraj to go for the bouncer. Sooryavanshi was smashing the bowlers all around the park and even the fiery pace of Kagiso Rabada could put him off guard. He had already crossed the 30-run mark and things were looking dim for the visitors. The wicket was indeed a timely one and the Gujarat Titans were able to capitalize on the early opening advantage they got in the 2nd innings.

Mohammed Siraj was given the ball to bowl the first over and the task was clear, to get rid of the openers before they deal any kind of damage. Sooryavanshi smashed Siraj off the very first ball and the bowler was straight away under pressure. He then bowled a lethal yorker right in the blockhole and that took an inside edge straight on to his foot, which caused him a lot of pain. In the next over, Mohammed Siraj knew that he had to get his man and Ashish Nehra gave him the right instruction. The bouncer cramped Sooryavanshi for room and he hit the ball straight up in the air and Arshad Khan completed the catch.

Gill and Sudharshan powered the Titans to 229 before the Royals collapsed after the early dismissal of Sooryavanshi

The Gujarat Titans were well set in the game right from the first innings with a spectacular opening partnership between Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharshan. The home side was straight away put under pressure and they couldn’t pick up wickets as easily as they would have liked. Then a couple of blows were dealt to the batting unit as Sai Sudharshan and Jos Buttler were dismissed. Later on, Washington Sundar and Rahul Tewatia played quickfire knocks in the back end of the innings and that helped the Titans to put on a dominant total. They finished at 229 after the 20 overs and it proved to be good enough to secure the 2 points.

In the second innings of the game, the Rajasthan Royals needed a flourishing opening stand if they needed to chase down the total. The start given by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was promising as the run rate was well above the required run rate. After Mohammed Siraj got rid of Sooryavanshi, things went downhill for the Rajasthan Royals. None of their batters were able to get off the mark and keep the scoreboard ticking. Ravindra Jadeja was able to score some runs but with the kind of total they had to chase down, it was never an easy chase. With none of the premier batters battling it out in the middle, they could do nothing but reduce the margin of the defeat.

With 3 games remaining in the tournament for Gujarat Titans, they have a very good chance of making it through to the playoffs. They will be a dangerous team as they have got a well balanced team and with most of their players in red-hot form ahead of the business end of IPL 2026.