Sunday night provided a perfect blockbuster game as Rajasthan Royals stunned everyone to chase 224 runs against Kings XI Punjab at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. It looked like an impossible task but Rahul Tewatia’s cameo where he struck five sixes in an over changed the plot completely. An ecstatic Jofra Archer hailed his teammates after an emphatic victory.
Batting first, Punjab had set a target of 224 runs banking on a century from Mayank Agarwal and a fifty from KL Rahul. It looked like they have sealed the game at the halfway stage but Rajasthan Royals had the belief.
Despite losing Jos Buttler early, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson went hard against the bowlers capitalising the short boundaries. They added 91 runs for the second wicket to bring 100 runs in just nine overs. But the injection of Rahul Tewatia at No.4 after Smith’s dismissal looked costly.
Jofra Archer reacts after thrilling win
The all-rounder struggled to find his timings right. However, Sanju Samson carried the onslaught from the other end. Although the chips were down, Tewatia had the belief in himself. He waited for the right moment and pounced on Sheldon Cottrell hitting him for five sixes in an over to change the complexion of the game.
Sanju Samson got out in the next over but by that time, Tewatia had made sure the run-rate was withing the reach. Jofra Archer walked out when Rajasthan Royals needed 21 off just 11 deliveries. He smashed two sixes to tilt the game in his favour and pull off an incredible victory.
Also Read: 5 Unknown Facts About Rahul Tewatia
Reacting to the thrilling encounter, the fast bowler recalled the 30-run over as the game-changing moment. Jofra Archer also felt good that they could prove their haters wrong.
“It was very crazy. Tewatia started to strike the ball very cleanly in the over of Cottrell and that is probably the match-winning over for me. I bet no one expected us to win, especially when we got to over 15. I am glad we proved we proved everyone wrong,” the official website of the franchise quotes Archer as saying.
Furthermore, Jofra Archer, who had a poor outing with the ball, salvaged with two towering sixes. Speaking on his plan, the Barbados-born cricketer revealed that he just wanted to connect the ball rightly.
“Very Satisfied. It was hard to believe that we would win the match against Kings XI Punjab and have some points. We were a bit slow but very glad to get over the line. The plan was just to see the ball and hit it,” he added.
Next up, Rajasthan Royals, who are currently in the second spot face Kolkata Knight Riders on September 30.
