Rajasthan Royals, who had previously lost three times against Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022, won their fourth meeting with the Hardik Pandya-led club on April 16 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Gujarat, making their IPL debut that year, beat the defending champions in their maiden meeting, during the league round of the tournament.
Once again, GT narrowly defeated Rajasthan in the first playoff game (Qualifier 1) to secure a spot in the championship round. The Rajasthan Royals overcame every obstacle on their way to the final match, scheduling a third meeting with the Gujarat Lions. The Sanju Samson-led squad lost for the third consecutive game, and Gujarat went on to win the IPL 2022.
For the fourth time in IPL history, and for the first time in the current IPL 2023, the defending champions faced up against the Men in Pink, and the result was a loss for Gujarat in a nail-biting thriller played out in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. After dropping three in a row last season, captain Sanju Samson took charge with a fifty, and Shimron Hetmyer’s blitzkrieg capped off the pursuit in grand fashion.
Shimron Hetmyer says that the win in IPL 2023 was a revenge against Gujarat Titans
Hetmyer said the squad had gotten their “revenge” on the reigning champs as he accepted the Player of the Match award.
“I don’t have any words. Difficult to win against these (GT) guys, they beat us thrice last year but today was sort of a revenge. I practice these situations, it helps when you practice with that mindset of knowing we are a few wickets down and chasing 100 with 8 overs to go. I was actually pretty happy to be honest (on Noor bowling the final over). He bowled well throughout so the first ball all I was thinking about was getting that double and take it from there,” he said during the post-match presentation.
