Sharjah: Sanju Samson’s blistering 74, late theatrics from speedster Jofra Archer with the bat — he carted four consecutive sixes — and Rahul Tewatia’s three-wicket burst propelled Rajasthan Royals (RR) to a comfortable 16-run win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Tuesday.
RR posted a mammoth 216 for seven wickets in 20 overs and three-time champions CSK finished with 200 for six wickets in 20 overs, despite a late surge from Faf du Plessis (72), at the Sharjah International Stadium.
MS Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings captain, said, ‘With 217 on the board, we needed a very good start which was not the case. Steve and Samson batted very well. Need to give credit to their bowlers. Once you’ve seen the first innings, you know the length to bowl. Their spinners did well to bowl away from the batsman. Our spinners made the error to bowl too full. If we would’ve maybe restricted them to 200, it would’ve been a good game. I haven’t batted for a long time. 14-day quarantine doesn’t help (why he isn’t batting higher). Also wanted to try different things, give opportunities to Sam. Have the opportunity to try different things. If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to your strengths. Faf adapted very well. Something the batsmen will do, neglect square leg and go more towards long-on and long-off.’
Steven Smith, Rajasthan Royals captain, 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 in front of the RRs. Sanju was incredible, and all I had to do was give him the strike. This should give him a lot of confidence. Jos is a quality player and we’ll see what happens when he comes back. Hard to take the opening slot away from someone like him. It was important for the bowlers to avoid straight hits, and it was important to make him hit the back of a length. The leg-spinners were very good with their lengths – good on them. Shreyas Gopal does what he does pretty 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.’
Sanju Samson, Man of the Match, said, ‘My game plan is stand and deliver. If it’s in the arc I go for it, and it’s very important to keep the intent to hit the ball if it’s there to be hit. I’ve been working hard on my fitness, diet and training, and on my strength, because my game relies a lot on power hitting. I think range-hitting is what the game demands in this generation. I had time to work out in these 5 months, and I think I’ve increased that ability. Everyone likes to keep wickets (about Buttler and Uthappa as alternate options) and no one likes running around, but it’s up to the coach. We are happy to bring smiles on the fans’ faces and we hope to continue doing so.’