As it happened - Rajasthan Royals vs Gujarat Titans, IPL 2022

A comprehensive win for Titans, by 37 runs, as they go to the top of the table with eight points from five games. Dew or no dew, chasing 193 was never going to be easy. Buttler got Royals off to a flier but the other batters failed to turn up. Lockie Ferguson was superb, picking up 3 for 23. Rashid Khan was economical, giving away only 24 from his four. And debutant Yash Dayal finished with 3 for 40 after going for 33 in his first two overs.

That's all from my side for tonight. See you soon.

Pandya got Neesham with a slower one but two balls later, he pulled out of his run-up after only a couple of steps. Earlier he had hurt his hand while attempting a catch off Hetmyer but now it looks like something is wrong with his right thigh. Titans will be hoping it's nothing serious. Vijay Shankar completes the over.

With 63 needed from five overs, Parag flicked Ferguson over deep midwicket for a six but on the last ball of the over, he ended up hitting a waist-high full toss to Gill in the same region.

Rashid concedes only seven from the next over, leaving Royals 48 away from the target with three overs left.

Hetmyer tried to keep Royals in the chase - hitting Shami for a six and a four. Shami then switched to around the wicket. Hetmyer once again went for the big hit only to toe-end it this time and Tewatia took a straightforward catch at long-on. He falls for a 17-ball 29.

Neesham joins Parag in the middle.

RR 117/6 after 13. They need 76 from the last seven. It's not something unachievable but do they have enough firepower left?

After three boundary-less overs, Royals have been dealt another blow. Rassie van der Dussen pushes at a Dayal delivery that was angled across him, gets an outside edge and Wade makes no mistake.

RR 90/5 in the 11th over. Our Forecaster gives them a 9% chance of winning.

Samson launched Tewatia for a six in the seventh over but cannot beat Pandya's direct hit. He punched Ferguson to mid-off and took off for a quick single but Pandya hit the stumps direct at the bowler's end to find Samson well short.

RR 74/4 after 7.3

For a while it looked like Buttler will single-handedly chase this down. He shuffled across to Ferguson to help him over fine leg for a six but Ferguson came back strongly and how. He bowls a pinpoint yorker - a floater at 126.4kph. Butter tried to jam his bat at it but misses and the ball hits the off and middle stumps.

Buttler falls for 54 off 24. RR 65 for 3 after six

Maruti Suzuki ASKcricinfo stat: Sanju Samson vs Mohammed Shami at the IPL

The Ashwin experiment comes to an end - he hit Rashid for a straight six, then survived a close lbw call, but eventually fell for a run-a-ball eight. He drove a fuller delivery from Ferguson to the left of cover where Miller took it just inches above the ground.

Samson is the new batter.

RR 56 for 2 after 5.1 overs

It's just a one-man show at the moment. Dayal to Buttler: punched through covers, swatted over midwicket, pulled over deep midwicket and creamed between cover and point. He has moved to 48 off just 20 balls. RR are 49 after four.

PS: Hardik is back on the field.

Three fours in the first over, creaming Mohammed Shami on either side of the wicket. Two fours and a six in the next, off debutant Yash Dayal. Buttler moves to 28 off 11 with Devdutt Padikkal yet to face a ball.

But Dayal ensures Padikkal's first ball is also his last, getting him to edge one to Gill at slip.

Here is a surprise though - Ashwin walks in at No. 3.

RR 28/1 after two

PS: Pandya is off the field, and Rashid is captaining Titans at the moment.

Manohar might have fallen short of a well-deserved fifty but he had done his job. With the stage set, Miller first hit Prasidh for back-to-back fours. Sen was in the firing line next - Miller hit him for three fours and a six in a 21-run 19th over.

Pandya hit a six and a four in the final over to finish unbeaten on 87 off 52, while Miller ended with 31 not out off just 14 balls, which featured five fours and a six. In all, they took 47 from the last three overs. Royals have a stronger batting line-up tonight but chasing down 193 won't be an easy task.

From the other end, Manohar slog-sweeps Chahal from outside off stump for a six. He tries to repeat it on the next ball but Chahal bowls this flatter and quicker and Manohar ends up top-edging it to Ashwin at backward square leg.

Titans 145/4 after 17. Can they reach 180?

In the 14th over, Pandya hits Sen for two fours in three balls, bringing up his fifty in just 33 balls. In the next over, he launches Ashwin for back-to-back sixes. The first one was a tough catching chance at deep midwicket. Devdutt Padikkal leapt in the air, got both hands to it but couldn't hold it. Ashwin ended up bowling a short delivery the next ball and this time Pandya cleared the boundary line with ease.

Titans lost three wickets in the first seven overs but Pandya and Manohar took the attacking route to recovery. These two have added 48 in 6.2 overs. Manohar took the attack to Chahal in the 13th over. He jumped out of his crease to hit him for four over his head. Chahal then, as he usually does, tossed up the next ball wide of the batter but Manohar lofted him over extra cover for a six.

GT 101/3 after 13

Maruti Suzuki ASKcricinfo stat: Which bowler has taken the most wickets in the middle overs in IPL 2022? Royals' fans are going to like the answer to this one.

Gaurav Sundararaman: In the absence of Boult, Royals have a fifth-bowler problem. But they have a plan in place. The first and seventh overs are the ones that generally go for the least number of runs. In this edition so far, the run rate in the first over is 5.7 and run rate in the 7th over is 6.6. However, the first and seventh over went for 12 runs each but yielded a wicket of Gill as Titans also decided to go after the weaker bowlers. Royals would be the happier team.

So far this IPL we have seen a restrained version of Pandya but here he takes on Kuldeep Sen and hits him for three successive fours. First he smashes him over his head, then over covers before picking up one with a thick outside edge.

In the final over of the powerplay, Prasidh conceded just three of the first five balls before bowling a no-ball for height. Gill scythed the free hit through covers for four.

GT 42/2 after six

It's not common for Yuzvendra Chahal to bowl in the powerplay, let alone in the fourth over of an innings. But here there's a match-up to exploit.

Chahal concedes only four from the over.

GT 20/2 after four

Kuldeep Sen replaces Neesham and shows what pace can do. It wasn't a great delivery - it was short and wide outside off. But it was bowled at146 kph (90.7mph). Vijay Shankar goes for the cut but gets a thick outside edge. Sanju Samson does the rest.

GT 16/2 after three

Drop and run...out. Shubman Gill looks to get off the mark with a single on the off side. He walks towards the bowler, Prasidh Krishna, and dabs him towards covers. Wade responds to the call but Rassie van der Dussen charges in, swoops low and hits the stumps at the striker's end. Wade was well short.

A wicket and a single from that over.

GT 13/1 after two

And in case we needed a confirmation, there it is. Bowling the first over, he starts with a low full toss down the leg side; Matthew Wade puts it away for four. The fourth ball of the over is another full toss, this time outside off, and Wade creams to the cover boundary. On the last ball of the over, Neesham errs on the shorter side and Wade cuts it through point.

Titans 12/0 after the first over

Sanju Samson wins the toss and opts to bowl. Trent Boult has a niggle and Jimmy Neesham replaces him. Hardik Pandya says he would have liked to bowl first as well but doesn't mind batting first. Titans have made two changes: Yash Dayal comes in for Darshan Nalkande and Vijay Shankar replaces Sai Sudharsan.

Here are the XIs:

Rajasthan Royals 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 James Neesham, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Kuldeep Sen

Gujarat Titans 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Matthew Wade (wk), 3 Vijay Shankar, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Abhinav Manohar, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Yash Dayal

Those of you in the US can watch the action live on ESPN+ in English or in Hindi.