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Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson has admitted that he did not have much hope when his side had collapsed to 42/5 while chasing a 148-run goal against the Delhi Capitals (DC). But RR came back from the death to snatch a thrilling 3-wicket win.
RR's innings certainly seemed to be in the doldrums after Delhi's pace trio of Chris Woakes (2/22), Kagiso Rabada (2/30) and Avesh Khan (3/32) ripped through Rajasthan's top order.
But blinders by David Miller (62 off 43 balls) and later Chris Morris (36* off 18 balls) ensured the Sanju Samson-led franchise opened their account in the tournament their second match of IPL 2021 at the Wankhede stadium.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Sanju Samson said:
"Had some hopes with Miller and Morris to come but to be really honest I thought that it was tough from there (42/5) and I think the boys did really well to get over the line.There was still a bit of work to do after even after Miller's fightback as DC struck twice to remove the left-hander and Rahul Tewatia in quick succession and leave RR reeling at 105/7 after 16 overs.
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Earlier in the match, a solid bowling performance by RR's pace battery ensured that Delhi could only huff and puff to 147/8 despite skipper Rishabh Pant's (51 off 32 balls) quickfire half-century.
RR's strategy of playing with three left-arm seamers also paid off as 'Man of the Match' Jaydev Unadkat (3/15), Mustafizur Rahman (2/29) and young Chetan Sakariya (0/33) made perfect use of the sticky conditions to restrict the Delhi batters.
Praising his bowlers for reading the conditions well and sticking to their plans, Sanju Samson said:
"It's about reading the conditions. Was a bit sticky to start with. Hard lengths and mixing up with the variations was the key. That's also our strength - three left-armers. They are slightly different from the other so we can use it in a different way. We had a chat with him (Sakariya), he was very confident and very clear.
Would not take that single even if I play the match 100 times: Sanju Samson on denying Chris Morris the strike vs Punjab Kings
There was still a bit of work to do even after Miller's fightback as DC struck twice to remove the explosive left-hander and Rahul Tewatia in quick succession and leave RR reeling at 105/7 after 16 overs.
But Rajasthan found another hero as the most expensive player in IPL history, Chris Morris, smoked Rabada and Tom Curran for a couple of sixes each to get them over the line.
After Morris' heroics with the bat, Sanju Samson was asked if he regretted denying the strike to the big-hitting allrounder in the last over of the heartbreaking loss against Punjab in the first game.
But the Royals skipper, who scored 119 off 63 balls in that game, stuck to his guns and said he would have backed his decision even if he had 100 chances like that.
"Always sit back and review my game. If I play that match again 100 times I would not take the single (on denying strike to Morris last time)", finished Sanju Samson.
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