The most vigilant Steve Smith contributed 69 (47b) while Jofra archer (27 not out of 8 balls) rubbed salt on CSK’s wounds by hitting Lungi Ngidi for four sixes in the final.
Scorekeeper
In response, Faf du Plessis did his best for CSK with 72 of 37 balls. MS Dhoni, meanwhile, didn’t help himself to No. 7. He finished with an undefeated 29 of 17 balls and hit three sixes, but it was too little, too late.
Samson’s entries, however, were perfectly timed. During his lightning effort, the 25-year-old sent the ball into the night sky nine times. Samson, of course, has achieved great scores for the Royals in the past, but he has yet to have the kind of prolific season needed to become a permanent fixture in India’s starting XI. He will hope this is his season.
Sanju Samson is our man of the match for his superb hit of 74 in 32 deliveries. # Dream11IPL #RRvCSK https://t.co/spO1yTZRx2
– IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 1600798556000
The Royals were really circumspect to start, advancing to 26/1 in 4 overs. In the fifth over, however, Samson decided to strike the first blow against Sam Curran and punished the Englishman’s short deliveries by a four and six. With the rhythm of the court to his liking and the dimensions of the smallest limits on offer, Samson’s impressive onslaught began even as Smith was happy to play second fiddle.
Even the easing of restrictions on the ground provided no respite for CSK. Despite the fact that Dhoni introduced his experienced spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Piyush Chawla in the attack, there was no way to stop the Kerala hitter. Samson saluted Chawla with three earned sixes when the first leg over went for 28 runs. Samson also regained his half-century with just 19 balls, his fastest in the IPL, in the process.
CSK delayed things a bit after Samson’s firing. Archer, however, crushed Lungi Ngidi by four sixes in the final, which allowed 30 runs, to ensure RR finished strong.
While Watson (33, 21 balls) started the CSK chase promisingly with four sixes in the first six overs, his knockdown came in the seventh over as he tried to hit another high. M Vijay (21, 21b), Sam Curran (17, 6b) and rookie Ruturaj Gaikwad (0, 1b), replacing Ambati Rayudu who was not fully fit, perished in quick succession thereafter. Gaikwad didn’t do himself any favors with the way he fired him, as he walked up to Rahul Tewatia’s leg from his first installment and was duly stumped.
Curran’s promotion to counter Tewatia and Shreyas Gopal in the RR set-up was understandable, but ideally Dhoni should have walked ahead of Ruturaj and Kedar Jadhav. Especially considering he hasn’t had time in between since last year’s World Cup, it would have been wise for him to take a look before launching his shots.
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