Rashid inspires rout as ladder-leaders Gujarat smash Royals

Gujarat Titans wrist spinners Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad wreaked havoc as they routed Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets in the Indian Premier League.

The Afghanistan duo shared five wickets for 39 runs in seven overs on Friday to help the defending champions and leaders edge closer to qualifying for the playoffs.

Rashid picked up 3-14 in four overs and Ahmad took 2-25 in three overs, bamboozling Rajasthan to be all out for 118 runs in the 18th over on their home turf in Jaipur.

In reply, Gujarat skipper Hardik Pandya smashed an unbeaten 39 off 15 balls as they reached 1-119 in only 13.5 overs.

After Rajasthan opted to bat, Jos Buttler was dismissed by Pandya for eight and the in-form Yashaswi Jaiswal suffered in a mix up with skipper Sanju Samson.

Samson didn't last long either, chipping an easy catch after scoring 30 off 20 balls.

Rajasthan were 3-60 in the seventh over when Rashid and Ahmad spun out what was left of the batting line up. 

The world's No.1 ranked T20 bowler clean bowled Ravichandran Ashwin for two, trapped Riyan Parag for four and Shimron Hetmyer for seven, decimating the Royals' middle order.

Ahmad collected Devdutt Padikkal on 12 and hard-hitting Dhruv Jurel for nine as Rajasthan lost five wickets for 36 runs across 44 deliveries.

Kiwi Trent Boult scored 15 off 11 balls to push the total into three figures but it was never going to be enough.

Gujarat openers Shubman Gill, back again as an impact player, made 36 off 35 balls and Wriddhiman Saha made 41 not out off 34 balls, putting on 71 runs for the first wicket.

After Gill was stumped, Pandya hit three fours and three sixes to finish the game with 37 balls to spare.

The win consolidates Gujarat's position at the top of the table, three points clear of Lucknow Super Giants, while Rajasthan remain fourth but suffered a serious dent to their net-run-rate.

Aussies in IPL 2023

Delhi Capitals: Mitch Marsh ($1.2m), David Warner ($1.16m)

Gujarat Titans: Matthew Wade ($446,000)

Lucknow Super Giants: Marcus Stoinis ($1.7m), Daniel Sams ($135,000)

Mumbai Indians: Tim David ($1.53m), Cameron Green ($3.15m), Jason Behrendorff ($135,000), Riley Meredith ($272,000)

Punjab Kings: Nathan Ellis ($135,000), Matt Short ($36,000)

Rajasthan Royals: Adam Zampa ($270,000)

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Josh Hazlewood ($1.4m), Glenn Maxwell ($2m)

Figures represent auction price in Australian dollars at time of sale