As it happened: Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2022, Qualifier 1

1 Sanju Samson showed what makes him so special, and also why the selectors don't pick him.

2 Rashid Khan is just too good. Four overs of cease fire is probably too much in a T20 match, and that perhaps was the difference between the two sides.

3 Jos Buttler can catch up. Especially when the batting line-up is not deep, it is perhaps okay for Buttler to dig in.

4 Fielding is important but it is not the end of it. Gujarat Titans gave up quite a few runs in the final four overs but as I observed before their bowlers were good enough to not get smacked for 25-30-run overs, which gave them a par score to chase.

5 David Miller is the revelation of the season. It is almost an out-of-the-blue revival of a career, but this finishing has been precise this IPL. Especially against spin. The way he countered Ashwin and Chahal, hitting both down the ground, allowed Hardik Pandya to drop anchor.

6 Luck plays a huge role in this game. The shorter the duration, the heavier the role of luck. As Sanju Samson said, the pitch was sticky in the first innings. In the second innings, the ball came on, and also dew made it difficult for the bowlers.

With that, we say congratulations to Gujarat Titans and sign off. Do join us tomorrow. Same place, same time.

Once again it is David Miller keeping Gujarat Titans in this thing. Hardik Pandya has not hit a boundary since the 14th over. Miller still manages to hit one but McCoy has still left them 16 to get. Forecaster is going with RR at 64%. Krishna to bowl.

Bowling the 18th over, Yuzvednra Chahal does his best to deny GT the boundary. To Hardik Pandya he bowls the in-between lengths, and to David Miller he goes wide. On the fifth ball, though, Miller is good enough to drag him from wide outside off for a massive six over long-on. Still he goes for under the asking run, leaving them 23 to get off the last two.

Obed McCoy returns an over of nine runs at the start of the death overs despite going for four first ball. That has left GT 34 to get off last three, which has them at 52% favourites. One of these three overs has to be bowled by Chahal. Krishna and McCoy the other two.

David Miller, who has been the revelation of this IPL for me, has hit the first boundary off Yuzvendra Chahal. And just like with Ashwin he has gone straight down the ground so it doesn't matter that it is a wrong'un. Miller has been just superb this year in this role. GT 139 for 3 in 15. Now 61% favourites to win.

That's R Ashwin's worst analysis this IPL despite bowling two great overs that went for just 10. But he started off with an average over, which also happened to be the last over of the powerplay. And then in his last Hardik Pandya and David Miller took 14 off him without taking any risks. That has taken the win probability over 50% for GT.

Once again Rajasthan Royals come back from a big over. After that 18-run over the next three have gone for seven, five and six. Bowlers responsible: Prasidh, Ashwin, McCoy. It leaves GT 74 from the last seven.

Obed McCoy, whose first over is the 10th, which means he will have a role to play at the death, has recovered from on ordinary start to the over to have Matthew Wade caught at deep midwicket. McCoy continues to err, though, as he has bowled a no-ball via a second bouncer in the over. Both are wides too. And wides keep on coming. Eighteen off the over. GT 48% favourites to win now.

So Matthew Wade is a little stuck against spin, and Shubman Gill wants two to keep strike but Wade says no. And the throw from Devdutt Padikkal running in from deep midwicket is spot on. Now we have had two overs without a boundary. It is 72 for 2 after eight with Wade on 30 off 25. Forecaster has RR at 68% favourites to win.

A classy little attack on R Ashwin, who is bowling a really tough over, the last of the powerplay. Shubman Gill piles the pressure on with a six over extra cover, and then he cashes in as Ashwin goes flat and quick trying to protect the over. At 64 for 1, GT have got their highest powerplay this IPL. Gill is now 31 off 16 at his former home ground. GT 52% favourites to win on the Forecaster but if there is heavy dew, this might change in a hurry.

The first four overs in this IPL have been used by teams to set up for a big kick to end the powerplay. to that end, Gujarat Titans have done well with 31 for 1, but thanks to some diving saves by The Flying Jos ate mid-off, Shubman Gill is stuck on 7 off 9. Can RR close out this powerplay to put some pressure on GT?

Here is S Rajesh trying to put a number to how much Rajasthan Royals benefited with Jos Buttler's luck.

"Twenty-two runs. That’s how many extra runs Gujarat Titans have scored due to Hardik Pandya’s slip-up – quite literally – in the 17th over, which turned what should have been a fairly regulation catch into four runs.

Buttler was then on 43 off 39, and finished on 89 off 56, which means he scored 46 off 17 balls after that chance (including the ball off which he got the let-off). According to the Luck Index algorithm, had Buttler been dismissed then, the other batters would have scored 24 off the 16 balls (excluding that delivery which would have led to his dismissal). That calculation is done by allocating the those extra 16 balls that Buttler faced to the batters who remained not out at the end of the innings, and the others who didn’t bat.

We'll find out soon if those extra 22 runs will cost Titans the game, and a chance to seal their place in the final."

A bit of indulgence here. If you are familiar with my ball-by-ball commentary, you are aware how annoyed I get when people don't keep running till they are run out off the last ball of the first innings.

Nowadays, though, things have changed. The no-ball is checked by the third umpire and is called only after the ball becomes dead. So it is okay if you get run out on the non-striker's end but the fielding sides are often going to go for the batter running to the striker's end. It is perhaps wiser to stay with one and have a set batter should the ball be called a no-ball. Buttler here sacrificed himself only to find out it was a no-ball, which meant R Ashwin had to come out to face the free hit.

Now the bizarreness didn't end there. The free hit was a wide ball, and Riyan Parag quite rightly tried to steal a bye to get back to strike to face the next free hit. R Ashwin, who rates Parag highly and also is hyper aware of game situations, for some reason didn't run and also looked quite annoyed with Parag. Not only would Parag have got the strike, possibly Ashwin could have stolen the bye. Anyway, Parag was run out, and Ashwin managed two off the last ball. Not to say Parag would have definitely hit a six, but RR stood a better chance with him on strike.

Jos Buttler ends up with 89 off 57 as 58 come off the last four to take RR to 188. It took till the last ball of the 19th over for Jos Buttler to get his first six. Having said all that, despite all the dropped catches and fielding lapses, Gujarat Titans have managed to avoid those 25-30-run overs.

Buttler went from 39 off 38 to score 50 off the last 19 balls he faced. He scored 76 of his runs against pace, and just 13 off 17 against spin.

"I feel we have got a really good score but at the same time the pitch doesn't really matter in this kind of a game," says Devdutt Padikkal. "We know they will come hard at us. The pitch is a little bit dry, and it is not bouncing so much. It is keeping low, a little two-paced. I don't think there is any dew yet."

Riding his luck, Jos Buttler has given some momentum to the RR innings with 15 and 14 in overs 17 and 18. Mohammed Shami, though, has pulled things back in the 19th. On the second ball, he has Buttler dropped, but with the third Shami has Hetmyer caught. Hetmyer is filthy with himself because Shami has missed the yorker, but it is still too close to Hetmyer to be able to get the desired elevation. He is caught at long-on. It is 161 with nine balls to go.

Wow he has fought it out just to make sure he is there in the death overs. And the first death over has repaid all of Jos Buttler's luck with massive amounts of luck. The first ball he mis-hits a slower ball but it clears square leg. Second ball is a catch straight down long-off's throat, but Hardik Pandya slips and watches it sail over him. Then one four goes through the legs of short third man. He is now 56 off 44. RR 145 for 3 in 15. Back to 175 on the Forecaster.

That's how big a player Rashid Khan is. It has all been about denying him a wicket. No boundary off him in four overs. It is sensational. And a risky approach because you have played 20% of your innings defensively. It also speaks to the fact that they have R Ashwin at 7 never mind all that he has done this season as a batter. RR 127 for 3 in 16 overs. Projected score now 168.

The left-hand batter is a good match-up for Sai Kishore, and he has slog-swept him for two sixes to keep the innings going. It is crucial because with his analysis so far of 3-0-12-0, Rashid Khan has completely choked up one end. A bit of a culprit is Jos Buttler who is 30 off 31. Nobody id talking of retiring out because it is Buttler and he can make up.

However, Hardik Pandya has made it worse for RR with an offcutter that Padikkal plays on while trying to pull. He is gone for 28 off 20. RR 116 for in 14.1. We predict 174. I don't think they will be happy with 174. I suspect they need 20 more than that.

He came into IPL with a bit of a reputation. And why not? He had a career economy rate of under a run a ball. So far he has shown what is needed of a T20 bowler: turn, changes of pace, and the mastery on the length. Come the big night, and he went for 12 in the first over as he ran into a red-hot Sanju Samson. Those were 12 risk-free runs, but when Kishore came back for his second over, he did so on the back of a two-run Rashid Khan over, thanks largely to Jos Buttler who is still struggling. So Samson had to take a risk, and Gujarat Titans needed a bowler good enough to capitalise on the pressure created. Sai Kishore is good enough to beat Samson in the air. He is looking to make room and go inside-out, but this delivery cramps him up and flies off the inside half to long-on. Samson gone for 47 off 26. Detractors will again point out to a middling score but in this case Samson was looking to lend a hand to a struggling batter.

He is standing upright and delivering. Clear the front leg, get a good clean swing in, and deal only in boundaries. He has maximised the powerplay here with 30 off 13 balls. Three sixes, three fours. It is a cracking pitch and a small ground so Samson knows they need all of it. Now starts the test of Samson. His detractors will love it if he doesn't go on. RR 55 for 1 in six overs.

The first ball Sanju Samson faces is a good ball. On a length, attacking the wicket. No easy drive or back-foot shot available. Samson trusts the pitch, and casually lofts it over mid-on for a six.

Jos Buttler has hit three fours off Mohammed Shami with mere pushes on the up. These are early signs of the ball coming onto the bat. There is a bit of movement off the surface but that won't stay for long. Buttler 14 off 10. RR 18 for 1 in three overs.

Perhaps an early sign of how loud it is out there at Eden Gardens. For the second time this IPL, Yash Dayal has produced away movement and taken the outside edge of Yash Jaiswal. There is a loud appeal, umpire Bruce Oxenford is not giving it, but Jaiswal walks off himself. It's 11 for 1 in two overs with Dayal dotting Jaiswal up after the nine-run first over.

Gujarat Titans have won the toss, and there is no doubt what they will be doing. It is a fresh pitch, and expect dew later. Titans will be chasing here. They have made one change to their side: bringing Alzarri Joseph back after they tried Lockie Ferguson in their last game. That is a big change in form during the tournament: before this IPL, you would have put Ferguson ahead of Joseph.

Rajasthan Royals are no strangers to losing tosses. They have now lost 13 out of 15. Arguably no side will be as prepared to batting first as they are. They are unchanged.

Gujarat Titans 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Matthew Wade, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt.), 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 R Sai Kishore, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Yash Dayal

Rajasthan Royals 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt. & wk), 4 Devdutt Padikkal, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Trent Boult, 9 Obed McCoy, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Prasidh Krishna