‘Dil mein aata hai, Samajh mein nahin’ – Fans celebrate as Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer pull off unlikely win against Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023

Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals locked horns in the 23rd game of the ongoing IPL 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. This is the first time in the tournament that last year’s finalists played each other. Ahead of the game, the Royals were coming off two back-to-back wins. On the other hand, the home team, the Titans were looking to repeat their dominance against the Jaipur-based team.

Meanwhile, in the game, the Pink Brigade won the toss and elected to bowl first. They had a great start as Trent Boult took out Wriddhiman Saha in the first over. In the fifth over, Sai Sudharsan lost his wicket despite his catch being dropped as he got run out. At 32/2, the likes of Shubman Gill and skipper Hardik Pandya put together 59 runs for the third wicket.

Both players didn’t make the most of their starts. David Miller (46) and Abhinav Manohar (27) helped the team reach 177/7 on a tough wicket for batting. The Pacers enjoyed bowling at this surface. For the 2008 winners, Sandeep Sharma took two wickets.

 Shimron Hetmyer and Sanju Samson pull off an unlikely win against Gujarat Titans

In reply, the visitors got off to a poor start as they lost two wickets for four runs, including the wicket of Jos Buttler. Skipper Sanju Samson and Devdutt Padikkal put together steady 43 runs for the third wicket. With the required run rate creeping up a bit, the latter lost his wicket to Rashid Khan. On the other hand, Riyan Parag’s poor form with the bat continued too.

Meanwhile, the likes of Samson and Shimron Hetmyer put together 59 runs for the fifth wicket to keep the team in the game. After bagging two golden ducks in the previous games, scored a 32-ball 60 including six sixes and three fours. After he got out, the likes of Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, and Ravichandran Ashwin took the team close to their first-ever win against the Titans.

Jurel and Ashwin played important cameos while Hetmyer (56*) scored a half-century to pull off a three-wicket win.

This is how Twitter reacted

https://twitter.com/rohitjuglan/status/1647649409201762304?s=20

https://twitter.com/bhawnakohli5/status/1647655686472613888?s=20

Sanju Samson, Hetmyer and #RajasthanRoyals

— Rahul Rawat (@rawatrahul9) April 16, 2023

Shimron Hetmyer, the finisher isn't celebrated enough.
Sanju Samson, the batter isn't backed enough. #RRvsGT #GTvRR #CricketTwitter

— Manoj Dimri (@manoj_dimri) April 16, 2023

High time these franchises realize that Shami isn't the ideal death bowler. He's great with the new ball, but when it comes to the death overs, they need to look elsewhere for a reliable option.

— Shivani Shukla (@iShivani_Shukla) April 16, 2023

To even imagine that RR were 4/2 after 3 overs with both Jaiswal and Buttler gone, and they end up winning comfortably.

Simply sensational…won't be surprised if RR vs GT is qualifier 1 again.

— Anuj Nitin Prabhu (@APTalksCricket) April 16, 2023

Shimron Hetmyer what a finisher…

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 16, 2023

https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/1647657753869991937?s=20

Gujarat Titans are suffering freak losses as they enjoyed the freak wins last year! #IPL

— Arani Basu (@AraniBasuTOI) April 16, 2023

https://twitter.com/rajasthanroyals/status/1647655778336247808?s=20