Live blog - Rajasthan Royals vs Gujarat Titans - Rashid Khan scripts incredible Titans comeback

What an incredible performance from Rashid Khan. Without his effort with the ball, Titans were chasing a lot more than 197 today. And then he came in with 40 needed off 15 balls. And he's finished it off with a bit of help from his regular partner in crime Rahul Tewatia.

Avesh Khan bowls the final over with only four men out on the boundary, with Titans needing 15, and here are they key moments: a low full-toss, swiped to the leg-side boundary by Rashid. A good yorker outside off, squeezed past the diving Samson by Rashid. Then a mistimed hit over mid-off from Tewatia with Titans needing 4 off 2. They look to run a third with Buttler chasing back towards the boundary, but Tewatia is well short of the crease at the bowler's end.

That leaves Titans needing two off the last ball, with Rashid on strike. Who would bet against him on a night like this one? Not too many good options for Avesh to go to with only four fielders back, and he goes shortish, just outside off, and Rashid carves him away over point, in typically wristy manner. What a finish, and what a player.

With that, Royals are no longer unbeaten in IPL 2024. They have four wins and one defeat now, and Titans are now three out of six, which puts them soldly mid-table with some important players (Miller, Omarzai) to come back from injury.

They've done it before, and they could do it again. The 19th over begins with Titans needing 35 off 12, and it ends with them needing 15 off 6.

It's a nine-ball over. Both Tewatia and Rashid find the extra-cover boundary once each. There's also a wide outside off stump to the left-hander, and a wide down the leg side to the right-hander from Kuldeep Sen. There's a (tight) no-ball as well. The free-hit produces a catch in the outfield, but it's a free-hit. And Tewatia finishes the over with a terrific hit, a one-bounce four over mid-off off a slower length ball angling away from his arc. Not quite far enough away from his arc in the end.

Avesh Khan will bowl the final over, and Royals are five minutes behind the targeted over rate, so he'll bowl it with only four fielders outside the circle. What a match!

And Shahrukh goes, lbw, missing a straight one while trying to swipe it over the leg side. Looked very out, but Shahrukh has reviewed. A review of desperation rather than hope or belief. Titans are 157 for 6, and need 40 off 15 balls.

Shahrukh Khan clubs Tamil Nadu team-mate R Ashwin for six, and Sanju Samson lets out a loud "vaanga da" (which kind of but not quite means "come on, guys" in Tamil) behind the stumps. Then Ashwin drifts a little bit down leg and Shahrukh helps him for four past short fine.

Tewatia breaks up all the Tamil action with a charge down the pitch and a nice, chipped four over extra-cover to end the over. 17 off the 17th, and Titans need 42 off the last three.

Ashwin finishes with 4-0-40-0. He's taken just the one wicket in five games so far this season.

Chahal was bowling a wide line outsde off, asking Gill to hit through the off side or try and fetch it over the leg side. Gill hit him for two off-side fours off the first two balls of the 16th over, and then steps out to the third ball, looking for another boundary. Chahal sees him coming, bowls it even wider, a genuine wide, well out of his reach, and Samson completes the stumping. Gill goes for 72 off 44, and Titans need 64 in 28 balls.

Before this match, Gill had scored 95 off 58 balls from R Ashwin in the IPL without being dismissed. Now he hits him for two fours in the 15th over. Titans get 13 off the over, but they started it with a required rate of above 14.

And Vijay Shankar goes for 16 off 10. A decent innings, showed a bit of enterprise, chipping Kuldeep Sen over md-off for four and reverse-sweeping Chahal earlier in this 14th over when he sussed out that he was going to bowl wide outside off.

Chahal gets his man, however, slowing one down on a stump-to-stump line, and Vijay, looking to sweep, is through his shot a little too early and is bowled.

Rahul Tewatia walks into a Rahul Tewatia situation, aganst his old team, with 84 needed off 36 balls.

Gill gets there off 35 balls, at the start of the 14th over of Titans' innings. They need 93 off 41 balls now. Gill has only hit two fours and two sixes so far, and hasn't hit a boundary since the end of the 10th over. He really needs to get a move on if Titans are to get anywhere near their target.

Impossible to resist that headline. He's got three now, in ten legal balls, as Abhinav Manohar's defensive technique (not what he's renowned for or in the IPL for, to be fair) fails him. Hangs back and stays leg-side of a length ball that actually comes in off the deck, slightly, and beats his outside edge and smashes into the stumps. Titans are 79 for 3 in 10.4 overs.

He's bowled seven legal balls in this IPL season and he's picked up two wickets. Wade goes immediately after the restart, goes hard at a short-of-length ball angled away from him - to be fair, the width was there - but it takes the inside edge of his diagonal bat and clatters into the stumps. Titans are 77 for 2 in 10.1.

At 77 for 1 in 10 overs (the 11th over began with a wide from Kuldeep Sen), the rain, which delayed the start of the match by 10 minutes if you remember, returns.

Royals win this if there's no more play, but Titans aren't too far from the DLS par score of 84 for 1.

Update: The covers come off within minutes. But both sets of players will no doubt continue to keep their eye on the sky and the DLS sheet.

Titans haven't really been able to force the pace so far. They're 76 for 1, and need 121 off their last 60 balls. More than two a ball already. The forecaster gives them a 15.76% chance of victory.

Kuldeep Sen strikes in his first over of IPL 2024. Full and straight, and Sudharsan, stepping across to try and scoop, misses and is struck on the front pad. Umpire Dharmasena doesn't give it out, but Royals review and have their man. Dharmasena may have thought there was a bit of bat on it, because it looked very out otherwise, even at first glance. Titans are 64 for 1 in 8.2 overs.

Matthew Wade is in at No. 3.

Two lovely fours at the start of the eighth over, Yuzvendra Chahal's first, by Sai Sudharsan, both back-foot punches, first to beat deep midwicket to his right, and the next to beat sweeper cover. The fourth ball of the over is another back-foot punch, but straight back to the bowler this time. It's a tough reflex catch, and it doesn't quite stick in Chahal's hands.

Titans are 63 for no loss in eight overs. Their openers are looking good without yet putting up the really big overs, and as per our forecaster, their chances of victory stand at 39.05% at the moment.

Shubman Gill played a similar shot off Kagiso Rabada while scoring 89* off Punjab Kings, and he's played two in an over against Avesh Khan now. One goes straight over the bowler for four, the other over mid-on for six. Titans end their powerplay at 44 for no loss. Their required rate is just under 11 an over for the last 14.

A couple of memorable shots among them too: an uppercut six by Sai Sudharsan off Avesh Khan, an inside-out loft over the covers by Shubman Gill in Keshav Maharaj's first IPL over. But Titans have gone at just over a run a ball in their first four overs, and now need 171 from the last 16 overs. They need a move on, and quickly, if they are to have a chance.

Keshav Maharaj comes on for Royals, making up a tasty-looking spin attack alongside R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. Out goes Yashasvi Jaiswal.

For Titans, Shahrukh Khan replaces Mohit Sharma. A decent amount of power in Titans' middle order today with Abhinav Manohar and Shahrukh lining up alongside Tewatia and Rashid. Matthew Wade too. Should be fun if the top order does its bit.

Excellent hitting in the end from Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, as Royals racked up 34 off their last two overs. Plenty of wides (and reviews for wides) as Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav tried to bowl the wide-outside-off line to restrict the batters, a tactic that has a tiny margin for error.

Feels like Royals have a superb total here, because this didn't look like the most straightforward of pitches. The ball didn't always come on perfectly, and if it stays the same, Royals have the option of using Keshav Maharaj as their sub. But dew could be a factor - it certainly was during Royals' last match here against RCB. We will wait and see how it goes.

This time the line s the long-off boundary, where Vijay Shankar stumbles backwards while catching Parag off Mohit's bowling in the 19th over, but he manages to land just inside the cushion, toss it in the air, jump over the line, and back onto the field before re-catching it. Parag goes for a superb 76 off 48, and Royals are 172 for 3 in 18.4.

Parag and Samson added 130 in 78 balls.

Two wide referrals in the 17th over, bowled by Mohit Sharma. The first isn't given wide on the field, and Samson reviews and gets it overturned, with the ball showed to bounce over head height. The second is an outside-off call, and it's marginal, because the batter, Samson, moved across to just outside off stump before Mohit released, and while the ball ended up outside the wide tramline, it was debatable how far outside it was in relation to how far Samson had moved. It's called wide, and the umpire's call stays, but the third umpire mistakenly says not wide, momentarily (or so it seems) thinking the umpire had called it not wide. Then he corrects himself and the wide stands.

That means Mohit has to bowl another ball to finish the over, and Samson hits it to the long-on boundary, past the dive of a fielder who's misjudged the hit and overrun the ball. Titans are fraying a little here.

And that boundary brings up Samson's fifty, off 31 balls. Another excellent innings from the Royals captain.

Rashid Khan had the same figures in the IPL 2022 final against the same opponents, but Royals have done a much better job against Titans' other bowlers in this game.

Yet again, though, Rashid has bowled with a terrific control of length, which, coupled with the pitch being a bit two-paced, made him extremely hard to get away. Noor caused a few problems too, but Royals, and Parag in particular, were able to pounce whenever he floated one up a touch too full. Noor went for 43 off his four.

Terrific 15th over for Royals, 16 off it. Samson, who hasn't had as much strike as Parag during their partnership, rushes from 29 off 20 to 44 off 25.

What a season Riyan Parag is having. Third fifty in five innings, and he brings this one up off 34 balls, on a surface that has been a bit two-paced. Gets there with his fourth six, and this time it's off Mohit Sharma. Holds his shape nicely against a shortish delivery and wallops it over the wide long-on boundary.

This hasn't been a straightforward pitch to bat on, particularly against spin and the slower ball. But Royals have made 53 off 39 since Buttler's dismissal, and Riyan Parag's use of the slog-sweep against Noor Ahmad has been vital to it. He's played it whenever he's had the chance, and he's picked up two sixes and a four with the shot while going to 38 off 29 balls. Royals are 95 for 2 in 12.1 overs.

Update: Another swept six from Parag off Noor, and he's on 45 off 31 now. Royals 103 for 2 in 12.4.

And again it's Rashid who finds the edge. His legbreak is causing all kinds of problems today, and part of it is because the bounce has been a little up and down. The dropped chance in the sixth over was off one that kept slightly low. This one turns with extra bounce. Not at all an easy pitch to bat on, just at the moment, especially with Rashid and Noor Ahmad operating in tandem. Royals are 52 for 2 in eight.

Gujarat Titans would wish they could get more than just the four overs from Rashid Khan against this Rajasthan Royals XI, against whom the Afghan bowler has taken 17 wickets at an average of 17.06. No bowler playing in this IPL has taken more wickets against them. The only batter in the Royals camp to have negotiated Rashid with some comfort is their captain Sanju Samson, who’s scored 111 runs off 96 balls and has been dismissed once. Samson hit 28 runs off just 9 balls (including four sixes) from Rashid in Ahmedabad last year. Even their potential Impact Player Rovman Powell, if they are pressed to bring in one to bolster their batting, has been dismissed twice in 29 balls and strikes at just 79.31 against Rashid.

Big big moment, potentially. Royals are two down with two balls of the powerplay left. They have R Ashwin set to bat at No. 7, and one more wicket could bring him in as something of a pinch-blocker. Or will they use an early batting sub?

All that's for later. For now, Rashid Khan has taken a big wicket, landing a quick legbreak just outside Jos Buttler's reach as he looks to stride forward and hit a hard, inside-out drive through the covers. The edge flies to slip, where Tewatia does well to react quickly and catch it in front of his face, more or less, with the reverse cups.

Two balls later, Riyan Parag escapes falling for a duck, as Rashid gets him to edge a legbreak that Wade drops behind the stumps. Reached away from his body to drive one that may not have been full enough for it.

Royals are 43 for 2 after six.

Terrific catch to send back a dangerous-looking Jaiswal for 24 off 19. He had just slogged Umesh Yadav for a four over midwicket, and followed up with an attempt to scoop over short fine. But he ends up gloving the ball, much finer than he'd like, but it's still travelling extremely quick when Matthew Wade times his jump perfectly, at full stretch, to pluck the ball out over his head.

Royals are 32 for 1 in 4.2 overs.

He's on 18 off 15 at the moment, but don't let that fool you into thinking he's batting sedately. He's played a lot of shots, and he's middled four to thread the off-side inner ring with precision. He's also hit the ball hard to infielders a couple of times and been beaten a couple of times by Spencer Johnson, and maybe that's the luck he needs to turn his form around.

After three overs, Royals are 22 for no loss.

Shubman Gill, the Titans captain, has chosen to bowl. No Miller or Saha, who are yet to recover fully from their respective injuries. Matthew Wade comes in for Kane Williamson, and Abhinav Manohar for BR Sharath, who kept wickets in their last game against Lucknow Super Giants.

No Shahrukh for Titans, but he's on the subs bench.

Sanju Samson is captaining Royals for the 50th time, by the way. He says he's grateful for the support he's had at Royals, particularly from coach Kumar Sangakkara. "When you're the captain, you never do it alone."

Kuldeep Sen comes into Royals' XI, with Nandre Burger sitting out. Burger isn't on the subs bench either, but an interesting name there - Keshav Maharaj has the chance to make his IPL debut as an Impact sub. Ashwin, Chahal and Maharaj would be a terrific spin attack, should Royals go that way.

Rajasthan Royals XI: 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Dhruv Jurel, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Trent Boult, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Kuldeep Sen, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.

Subs bench: Rovman Powell, Tanush Kotian, Shubham Dubey, Keshav Maharaj, Navdeep Saini.

Gujarat Titans XI: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 B Sai Sudharsan, 3 Vijay Shankar, 4 Abhinav Manohar, 5 Matthew Wade (wk), 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Noor Ahmad, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Spencer Johnson, 11 Mohit Sharma.

Subs bench: BR Sharath, Shahrukh Khan, Darshan Nalkande, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore.

Titans shelled out INR 7.4 crores for M Shahrukh Khan, the big-hitting Tamil Nadu middle-order batter, at the auction, making him the fifth-most expensive player in their squad. He's yet to feature this season. Is today to be his day?

We may need to wait a little while to find out, though, because it's drizzling in Jaipur.