Mumbai, Apr 28 (IANS): Afghanistan's star cricketer Rashid Khan pulled off a heist as he struck three sixes from four balls bowled by pacer Marco Jansen, to hand Gujarat Titans a thrilling five-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
After registering a sensational win, Rashid Khan said that he has the self-belief to execute such performances after working on his batting in the last two years.
Sensational batting by Rahul Tewatia (40 not out off 21) and Rashid Khan (31 not out off 11) in the slog overs helped Gujarat Titans beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in a thrilling IPL 2022 match at the Wankhede Stadium, here on Wednesday.
Gujarat were in a spot of bother at 140/5 after 16 overs with Tewatia and Rasid in the middle. The duo went on to crack a slew of shots to break open the game. With 35 needed off 12 balls, the left-handed Tewatia used the left-arm angle to his advantage by smacking T Natarajan for a boundary and six - slog-sweep over cow corner.
Gujarat needed 22 runs in the last over of the innings and Tewatia began on the right note by clubbing Marco Jansen over deep midwicket for another six but could eke out only a single off the next ball. Rashid then showcased his pyrotechnics and managed to smash three sixes in the four balls to take their team over the victory line.
"I was happy to do it against them (former club Sunrisers Hyderabad), but I was just trying to play my game and have the belief in my batting which I've been working on the last two years," he said.
Asked what transpired between him and Tewatia during the final over, Rashid said,
"When it was 22 left, I just told Tewatia that we have given 25 in the last over with our best bowler (Lockie Ferguson). We just have to have that belief in ourselves. If we have one missed ball, don't think about it and don't panic. Just stay strong and we need to finish it or get as close as possible because it might help us with the run rate," he said.
"But as long as we have that belief, anything is possible. Just stay there, keep your shape, and hit it strong. So that was our plan and luckily we had those four sixes."
Supporting Rashid's view Tewatia said his earlier experience of finishing matches helped him in such situations.
"We needed 22 runs from last over. Rashid said it was chaseable. I told him we can take the match closer (to a win) if I can hit six from the first ball. I said I will go all out for a six and let's see what happens," Tewatia said at the post-match press conference.