Star leg-spinner Rashid Khan added another feather to his cap on Sunday, going past senior Indian pacer Mohammed Shami to become the leading wicket-taker for the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
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The Afghan achieved the milestone after castling the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen during GT’s home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Khan’s dismissal of the South African keeper-batter was his 49th in the IPL since he joined the Titans ahead of the 2022 season from Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Klaasen had smashed an unbeaten 80 off 34 balls to help SRH post a record total against Mumbai Indians and was starting to turn up the heat in Motera, smashing Afghan left-arm Noor Ahmad for back-to-back sixes in the 13th over of the SRH innings.
Before Klaasen could cause any further damage to the Titans after getting settled, Rashid managed to breach his defence with a googly that skid through and crashed into the stumps, the batter departing for a 13-ball 24 as a result as the Sunrisers lost their fourth wicket with a little over 100 on the board.
Klaasen’s dismissal would prove a game-changing moment indeed as the Sunrisers could only manage 162/8 after opting to bat, none of their batters reaching 30 with all-rounders Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad top-scoring with 29 each.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSenior pacer Mohit Sharma was the pick of the GT bowlers with figures of 3/25, dismissing Shahbaz Ahmed and Washington Sundar in successive deliveries in a superb final over.
GT, in reply, would chase the target down with seven wickets and five deliveries to spare. While Wriddhiman Saha (25) and skipper Shubman Gill (36) got the 2022 champions off to a promising start, Sai Sudharsan (45) and David Miller (44 not out) ensured the team cantered their way home by adding 64 for the third wicket.
Miller would finish the game in style by smashing Jaydev Unadkat for a six at the start of the final over.