IPL 2020, Match 9, Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab - Rajasthan Royals won by 4 wickets
Sunday, Sep 28, 2020, Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Rajasthan Royals (RR) pulled off the highest run-chase in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL) in a high-scoring encounter against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Sunday (Sep 28) at Sharjah. This helped Rajasthan win both their first two games and take four crucial points at the start of the tournament!
After being sent into bat first, Kings XI openers Mayank Agarwal (106 off 50) and KL Rahul (69 off 54) put on a show with the bat stitching a 183-run partnership for the first wicket! And two little cameos from Glenn Maxwell (13* off 9) and Nicholas Pooran (25* off 8) helped Punjab finish with 223/2 in 20 overs.
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| Samson and Smith during their 81-run partnership. Image Credits: Deepak Malik / Sportzpics for BCCI |
At one stage, Punjab were looking for a total close to the 250 mark! However, Royals' bowlers Ankit Rajpoot and Tom Curran pulled back the momentum dismissing Rahul and Mayank in the 17th and 18th overs respectively. At the halfway mark of the match, Punjab's total seem to be massive but no one predicted what was to be followed on the other side of the innings break!
Chasing a massive target, Royals lost Jos Buttler cheaply for just 4 runs. Captain Steven Smith (50 off 27) and Sanju Samson (85 off 42) put on a 81-run partnership for the second wicket to give them a good start. After the departure of Smith, Royals promoted Rahul Tewatia to score some quick runs! However, the strategy backfired until the 18th over as Tewatia failed to put bat on ball!
With Tewatia struggling, Sanju Samson had to take all the load on himself and also hit 21 runs off 16th over bowled by Maxwell! But the wicket of Samson in the very next over bowled by Shami, made everyone thought the curtains would be down for Royals' chase. However, the mind-blowing twist in the plot was yet to come then!
Rahul Tewatia who was batting on 17 off 23 deliveries found his rhythm back in the 18th over which was bowled by a quality pacer Sheldon Cottrell. Six, Six, Six, Six, Dot and a Six - 30 runs off Cottrell's over and Tewatia brought up his half-century in just 30 deliveries! That was some comeback from Tewatia!
Royals registered a comfortable victory in the end with four wickets in hand and three balls to spare in their innings. Sanju Samson who led the chase from the front and involved in two crucial partnerships had been adjudged as the 'Player of the Match'.
Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals - 226/6 in 19.3 overs (Mayank Agarwal - 106, KL Rahul - 69, Ankit Rajpoot - 1/39, Tom Curran - 1/44) defeated Kings XI Punjab - 223/2 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson - 85, Rahul Tewatia - 53, Mohammad Shami - 3/53, Murugan Ashwin - 1/16) by a margin of 4 wickets
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