In 2023 and 2024, Gujarat Titans treated Jaipur like an away ATM: insert XI, withdraw points. Then came 2025, and the machine jammed.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (101, 38b) didn’t just break it — he rewired it mid-game. Suddenly, GT wasn’t the disruptor anymore. Saturday’s IPL match now poses a simple question — Rajasthan Royals to draw level, or GT to reassert control?
There are grounds where 180 sits on the board — untouchable, respected, radiating consequences. The Sawai Mansingh Stadium this season has not been one of them.
Here, the scoreboard has behaved like a slot machine in a provincial casino. Targets aren’t safe, and batters have swung as if the boundary cushions owed them money.
That doesn’t entirely align with the blueprint behind GT’s three-match winning streak — the bowlers to contain, the target to remain modest, the chase to unfold without panic. It has won seven out of seven chases of 170 or below since 2025.
Kagiso Rabada has rediscovered rhythm with the new ball, claiming four wickets at an economy of 6.89 in the PowerPlay across the last three matches. Significantly, three of those dismissals have come through short and short-of-length deliveries. Mohammed Siraj has been equally incisive, taking four wickets at 6.44 in the same phase.
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Their duel with RR’s explosive openers — Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi — could be the night’s defining match-up. Jason Holder’s return of seven wickets at 6.94 adds further control to GT’s attack.
With captain Riyan Parag striking form and Donovan Ferreira shaping into a terrific finisher, RR’s middle order has contributed more consistently over the last two games.
GT’s, meanwhile, remains vulnerable. Including its last match against Punjab Kings, GT’s Nos. 4 to 7 have averaged only 22 since the last IPL — the second-lowest among all teams in that period. RR has enough bowling variety to expose and target that weakness in search of its first win here this season.
Published on May 08, 2026
