When Chris Morris smashed Rabada and Curran for two sixes each in the 19th and 20th over of the match, one Sanju Samson had his heart in his mouth. If Morris would have pulled it off, his decision of not letting Morris take the strike off the last ball in the last match would have looked like the biggest blunder for the ages.
Morris did precisely that and showed why RR was ready to shell out such a huge amount for the lanky all-rounder. RR sealing off an impossible win with 3 wickets.
Another VIVO IPL 2021 match, another low-scoring encounter. The trend seems to be that the winning captain chooses to bowl, given the slowness of the wicket. When Samson won the toss for RR, he did not hesitate to put Pant’s DC into bat.
2, 9, and 8. What were the respective scores of the Delhi openers- Shaw, Dhawan, and Rahane. Samson’s best of putting DD into bat looked like it was playing out like a beautifully scripted movie. It was Rishabh Pant that looked like someone who could get DD to some respectable total. Pant played a very un-Pant-like inning. While he tried to avoid going the aerial route, he ensured that DD gets a move on with a blisteringly quick 52 off 32 balls.
The @rajasthanroyals camp is elated as they pocket their first win in #IPL2021 after yet another thrilling finish.https://t.co/8aM0TZxgVq #RRvDC #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/J1XA8ggmZs
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 15, 2021
The innings included 9 fours. Pant was supported by DD’s lower middle order. Lalit Yadav, Tom Curran, and Chris Woakes adding scores of 20, 21, and 15 not out respectively. DD’s uneventful innings ended with them scoring an average of 147 for the loss of 8 wickets. Pant top-scoring with 51.
With 148 to get, RR got off to the worst possible start. Jos Butler promoted up the order to open with Manan Vohra departed for 2 and 9 respectively. If the last two games of the VIVO IPL 2021 have given us any lessons, it is that low scores like 150-odd start appearing more like 200+ chases on some of the slowest pitches we have ever seen.
Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube also lost their wickets without making any major impact on the scores. It was only David Millar that could get going from the RR batting line-up. Miller scored a well-crafted 62 with 2 sixes and 7 fours. However, he lost out to Avesh Khan after hitting the youngster for two consecutive sixes.
Rahul Tewatia could not repeat his magic of yesteryears and got out from a Rabada bouncer that was fired at him at 140 km/hr. with 34 required off the last 3 overs, it was up to Chris Morris and Jaydev Unadkat to get RR over the finish line.
Morris still smarting under Samson’s last match no single decision, tried to prove why he is worth such amounts of money. He smashed Rabada for a six-off cow corner. With 21 needed off 11 balls, the game came alive, just like the last two matches of the tournament. With Morris smashing Rabada for one more six, it looked like the game was within the reach of RR.
RR needed 12 off the last over. Chris Morris looked like he wanted to make a statement and he was successful. The young Tom Curran was smacked off for a six. Morris finished it off with a six and showed why Samson created a blunder for the ages in the last match.
The match belonged to Chris Morris. We wonder what would be the conversation between Samson and Morris in the team tunnel…
