Former South African all-rounder, Shaun Pollock said Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) last-over thriller win over Gujarat Titans (GT), will give RR a lot of self-belief going forward in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. While in the game RR skipper, Sanju Samson along with Shimron Hetmyer smashed half-centuries to guide the former champions to win at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Now in IPL 2023, Sanju Samson-led RR is at the top of the table, with four wins in five games it played this season, with the last match victory against a Gujarat-based side by three wickets with four balls remaining.
Shaun Pollock considers Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya were at their best vs RR-
“These were probably the four best overs I’ve seen up front in the tournament. Hardik and Shami were absolutely superb. The trouble they caused with the areas they hit, and then to pick up those wickets and put them on the back foot, you thought the game was done and dusted. Shami’s figures were unbelievable,” said the veteran pacer.
Indian pacer, Mohammad Shami was impressive for defending champions, as he registered 3/25 in four overs, Shami dismissed RR’s opener, Jos Buttler with a gem of a delivery as England’s limited over skipper’s off stump was crushed at 142km/h speed. While GT’s skipper Hardik Pandya struck another opener Yashasvi Jaiswal on 1 (7) mark, while under 3 overs, the visitors’ score was 4/2.
Shaunk Pollock also believes one over from Rashid Khan was a game changer for RR-
“The one over from Rashid Khan, where he was hit for three sixes, was a key moment. That created a little bit of belief and then Hetmyer got going and he was superb. But what a turnaround, that win must give Rajasthan a lot of self-belief. To turn it around in this phase of the tournament is huge for them,” he further added.
Shaun Pollock believes that the three sixes in Rashid Khan’s overs changed the momentum towards the Royals. The former South African pacer said that the win against the Gujarat Titans would boost the Royals’ confidence.
WHAT. A. GAME! ? ?
A thrilling final-over finish and it's the @rajasthanroyals who edge out the spirited @gujarat_titans! ? ?
Scorecard ?https://t.co/nvoo5Sl96y#TATAIPL | #GTvRR pic.twitter.com/z5kN0g409n
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 16, 2023
Shaun Pollock thinks Gujarat Titans have failed to win on a second occasion from this situation-
“As for Gujarat, there are a few question marks over them now. This is the second time we’ve felt that they should have closed the game out and should’ve taken the points, and they didn’t do it,” he concluded.
The former South African all-rounder says that Gujarat based side has failed to win from situations they are expected to on two occasions, in the 16th edition of the league, as GT lost their game against KKR when Rinku Singh smashed Yash Dayal for five sixes in the last five balls of the game.
While for the sixth game of the season, the Sanju Samson-led side will take on the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 19.