The Rajasthan Royals defied all odds and won against the Chennai Super Kings in their opening match of IPL 2020. From the get-go, the Royals batsman had a huge total in mind considering the small Sharjah Cricket Ground.
Sanju Samson produced an absolute astonishing knock in which he hit 9 maximums. Skipper Steve Smith too was in the runs and stroke a fine half-century. Late blits from Jofra Archer took the total of RR to an intimidating 216-7.
This was always going to be a mountain to climb for CSK. The opening duo of Shane Watson and Murali Vijay started strong but could not capitalize on their respective starts.
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Later on, it was all about Faf du Plessis who kept on trying till the final few overs. The South African scored a breathtaking 72 off 37 balls and remained the lone warrior for CSK in the chase.
The pick of the bowlers for the Royals was leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia. He gave away 37 runs in his 4 overs and scalped 3 crucial wickets. Jofra Archer too was economical as he just went for 26 in 4 overs and picked a wicket.
Smith heaps praises on Samson
Smith said, “I think the last surge from Jofra was an incredible bit of hitting. Sanju Samson, looked like everything he hit went for six. MS smacked a few in the end, and Faf got going too, but nice to get a W (win) in front of the Rajasthan Royals. Sanju was incredible, and all I had to do was give him the strike when we batted. This should give him confidence”.
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“Jos is a quality player and we’ll see what happens when he’s back. Hard to take opening slot away from someone like him. It was important for our bowlers to avoid straight hits, and it was important to make him hit the back of a length.
The leg-spinners were good with their lengths. Shreyas Gopal does what he does rather well. Dubai is a lot bigger, and I haven’t trained there, I just got here. So hopefully the boys are ready for it. Looking forward to it”, Smith said in the post-match presentation.
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