Royals of Rajasthan 216 of 7 (Samson 74, Smith 69, Archer 27 *, Sam Curran 3-33) Super Kings of Chennai 200 of 6 (du Plessis 72, Watson 33, Dhoni 29 *, Tewatia 3-37) for 16 runs
Sanju Samson, Steven Smith and Jofra Archer all managed to outnumber the Chennai Super Kings with 17 sixes between them as the Rajasthan Royals opened their campaign with a win in Sharjah.
The tournament’s first 200+ score was driven by Samson’s 74 of 32 balls, Smith’s balanced 69 of 47 balls, and Archer’s four straight sixes in the final finale and proved too much for the Super Kings, whose pursuit became Surrender in the Middle before coming to life at the end. Rahul Tewatia’s three wickets played a role in that, but the Royals ‘defense was aided by the Super Kings’ experimental batting order and an apparent lack of purpose in the chase; by the time MS Dhoni came along, at number 7, they needed to score more than 16 over. That proved too much in the evening despite a late attack from Faf du Plessis.
New Rajasthan, the same old Samson
The area the Royals really wanted to renovate at auction was their opening partnership, but the experiment with Smith along with rookie Yashasvi Jaiswal lasted 14 laborious balls, in which they only managed to put 11 trying to come to terms with what seemed . a slow tone. Jaiswal was trying to pull one that grabbed it and made it big.
And then Samson, coming in at No. 3 made first impressions of the field seem questionable. He made a couple of attempts to hit his pull shots, but once he got the rhythm of the surface, two short arm shots came to clear the shortest square boundaries in the tournament. It was the beginning of a torrent.
The Royals went 54-for-1 in the power play, and immediately afterward, Samson took advantage of Ravindra Jadeja’s quick and exaggerated deliveries like they were takedowns in training. Two sixes of his first two balls against him, one longer and one longer, Samson opened, and the exact feat was repeated against Piyush Chawla in the next round. Chawla, who also took a long direct hit, tried to throw the next ball back along with a wider line; Still, Samson produced one of his best shots of the night, reaching out to slap him on the extra coverage without even reaching the field of play.
That turned out to be the last real challenge until it came out. He completed a fifty-nine ball, tying Owais Shah for the Royals’ second-fastest, and at the end of that finale, which was 28, including a Smith six, he had five sixes in his last nine balls. The Royals went into the first half 96-1 in eight overs. It took another three overs, with three more sixes in a row from the spinning pins still too full, before the partnership ended via a short ball from Lungi Ngidi that Samson was only able to pass to sweeper coverage.
Six or nothing
Smith had played himself, in his usual busy way, but felt pardoned at the far boundary, punching one into Sam Curran who couldn’t sustain the flat shot to his left. He managed a cheeky ramp from Ngidi, tumbling to the outside side as he did so, but those were rare highlights in what turned out to be an inbound recession.
Miller ran off without facing a ball in his debut for the Royals, caught on the end of the non-forward when his bat hit the grass as he dived. Robin Uthappa, one of those the Royals bought at auction, came in at No. 5 and got just five of his nine balls. Sam Curran and the spinners had adjusted their lengths, just behind a good length, to bring some control to the Super Kings in the second half. Paradoxically, the field seemed difficult to score if the scoring shots were not limits or sixes; Through the 19th, the Royals only made 54 after Samson fell to 132 in 11.4 overs, and by then he had lost Smith.
Then came what was probably one of Ngidi’s worst mistakes in his life; started with a reversion to overlapping length. Jofra Archer was on hand to take advantage of the last over, who pumped the first ball over the straight limit. The next ball, a short one, ended up on the ceiling in midwicket. After those were two more sixes, both of which also turned out to be no balls, and a wide to follow immediately meant that Ngidi had made 27 runs on two legal balls. To his credit, he conceded just three of the next four, but the last second of 30 runs this edition lifted the Royals to 216 of 7.
Super kings get stuck
The Super Kings chase started with eight of the first two overs, with no limits scored, and proved to be a precursor for the rest of the innings. The issue of six or nothing stuck with them as well, and they managed to more or less match the Royals’ power play effort. But just after their most fluid hitter of the night, Shane Watson, hit four sixes and one four and looked ready to take on the spinners, the plan fell apart. Legspinner Tewatia skidded one on his leg stump and Watson fell off his thigh, trying to pull him up. M Vijay’s run-a-ball 21 did not help when he fell next, and just 17v6 from promoted Sam Curran seemed to be taking the Super Kings anywhere near their big goal versus much better distances from the Royals. . spinners.
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But Tewatia had it and Ruturaj Gaikwad was stumped with back-to-back deliveries, and Kedar Jadhav’s promotion meant that Dhoni came in at No. 7 with 104 required on 38 balls.
Du Plessis had hit less than a run for 19 balls at the time, and Riyan Parag dropped him at length from Tewatia. That catalyzed a late six-hit raise on his part, and a 21-run off Jaydev Unadkat. But his second fifty of the season, 72 of 37, came on the other end of Dhoni, who advanced to 10 of 13 before hitting his first six and making it three in a row in the final finale. But the chase had already been mathematically shut down by Archer, with the ball on 19, having done bat work earlier.
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