Rajasthan Royals slumped to another damaging defeat in IPL 2026 after suffering a crushing 77-run loss to Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday, May 9.
Stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal endured a disappointing outing as Rajasthan were bowled out for 152 in 16.3 overs while chasing a daunting target of 230.
The defeat marked Rajasthan’s fifth loss in their last seven matches after beginning the season with four consecutive wins. Their sharp decline has now pushed them out of the top four, leaving their playoff hopes in serious danger.
Gujarat, meanwhile, continued their surge with a fourth successive victory to strengthen their position near the top of the table. A dominant batting effort led by Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan set up the massive total before Rashid Khan and Jason Holder ripped through Rajasthan’s batting line-up.
After being asked to bat first, Gujarat came out firing from the opening over. Gill and Sudharsan attacked relentlessly as Rajasthan’s bowlers struggled to contain the scoring rate. Jofra Archer endured a particularly difficult spell, conceding heavily in the powerplay as Gujarat raced to 82 runs in the first six overs.
Sudharsan continued his outstanding form this season by bringing up a brisk half-century off 30 deliveries, while Gill matched him stroke for stroke despite briefly requiring treatment for discomfort in his left foot. The pair stitched together a superb 118-run opening stand in only 65 balls to put Rajasthan firmly on the back foot.
Sudharsan eventually departed after a fluent 55 off 36 balls, but Gill carried on the assault and narrowly missed out on a century, falling for a brilliant 84 from 44 deliveries. Gujarat briefly lost momentum in the middle overs before Washington Sundar and Rahul Tewatia provided a strong finish. Their late hitting in the final over helped Gujarat post an imposing 229/4.
Rajasthan’s reply began in fearless fashion through teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who took on the fast bowlers with remarkable confidence. The youngster struck towering sixes off Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada to keep Rajasthan in the contest early on.
However, Siraj halted the momentum by dismissing Sooryavanshi for 36, while Jaiswal failed to convert his start and departed cheaply. Rabada then removed Shimron Hetmyer as Rajasthan slipped despite an aggressive counterattack from Dhruv Jurel.
The game turned decisively in Gujarat’s favour once Rashid Khan entered the attack. The leg-spinner struck twice in quick succession, removing Jurel and Donovan Ferreira to derail Rajasthan’s chase completely.
Ravindra Jadeja attempted to revive the innings with a quickfire 38, but Rashid dismissed him as well to end any hopes of a comeback. Rashid finished with exceptional figures of 4/33, while Holder wrapped up the lower order with 3/12 to complete a dominant Gujarat victory.
Comments are closed.