In the RR VS PBKS game of the IPL 2021 RR skipper Samson’s hard-hitting ton went to waste as PBKS won by 4-runs. The high-octane game was a ‘paisa vasool’ for IPL fans as it was filled with a plethora of boundaries, maximums and skipped catches. Chasing 222. Samson’s 119-run knock couldn’t save RR as PBKS won the game by 4 runs.
Rajasthan Royals wins toss, Mayank Agarwal misses
Winning the toss, skipper Samson put Punjab Kings to bat first. As anticipated, the Kings decided to give the opening duo of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal another shot at opening, thanks to their performance last year.
Right in the second over, Sakariya struck gold as he scalped the wicket of Mayank Agarwal before the latter could root himself to the crease.
Gayle Storm propels Punjab Kings
On number three, Chris Gayle came to the middle, and along with him came the Gayle Storm that most bowling attacks fear from. The West Indies batsman hit Morris and Rahman for consecutive boundaries in their spell and helped his team race past 46 by the end of the first power play.
RR looked to be bleeding runs and losing opportunities as both Rahul and Gayle were given lifelines due to dropped catches.
Making the best out of their second lives, both Gayle and Rahul continued with their onslaught. The duo stitched together an impressive quickfire 67-run partnership but eventually Gayle ended up giving his wicket to Riyan Parag.
Rajasthan bowling attack breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the worst was gone. However, the carnage was about to begin.
KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda goes after Rajasthan bowlers
KL Rahul continued with his demolishment of Rajasthan’s bowling attack and brought his half-century in style through hitting a six in the 13th over of the game.
On the other end, Deepak Hooda put the feet on the pedal. Hooda made hitting sixes look effortless as he hit two maximums off Dube and three off Gopal’s over.
Hooda reached his half-century in just 20 balls. Hooda and Rahul made another 105-run stand for the 3rd wicket. In the end, it was this tournament’s most expensive player Chris Morris that got the last laugh. Morris scalped the wicket of Hooda when he was looking dangerous at 64 runs off merely 28 deliveries.
Lower order crumbles, PBKS puts 221 runs on board
A few deliveries later, Pooran too fell prey to Morris as he went for a duck. Meanwhile, KL Rahul who was set to make his first century this year fell 9-run short of doing so. In the penultimate over, Tewatia regained his composure and took the wicket of Rahul and Jhye Richardson.
But it was too little too late as the Kings had put up a mammoth of a total on the board for Rajasthan to chase.
Rajasthan Royals loses Ben Stokes, Manan Vohra
With 222 runs to win in just 120 deliveries, Rajasthan seemed shaky in the beginning, losing Ben Stokes for a 3-ball duck. In the 4th over, it was Vohra who was caught and bowled by Arshdeep Singh for 12 runs. Fans of the Kings were sniffing victory, but it was Sanju Samson who single handedly demolished all their wishes.
Samson goes berserk, Jos Butler lends hands
Samson went berserk and let his intentions known right from the beginning. He was joined by England player Jos Butler who also looked in rich vein, hitting Richardson for 4 consecutive fours in one over. The duo added 45-runs for the second wicket partnership. Sanju Samson, who was dropped at 12 by KL Rahul, capitalized on his opportunity and reached his half-century from 33 balls.
Samson continues onslaught, became first captain to score century on captaincy debut
Coming after Jos Butler, Shivam Dube too looked to be in a mood to punish the Punjab’s bowlers as he amassed 23 runs and stitched together a 53-run partnership. However, Arshdeep struck again and sent Dube packing.
Samson on the other end showed no sign of being rattled at the fall of wickets and continued hitting sixes and fours across the ground. The RR skipper came down hard on Jhye Richardson as he hit a 6 and 4 and then took R. Ashwin to task and hit 3 sixes in the 16th over of the game. In the 18th over, Samson became the first captain this year to score a century.
Final over thrill
In the last over RR needed just 13 runs to win. Arshdeep Singh, who was responsible for taking wickets of Vohra and Dube was given the ball. The young Punjabi bowler held his nerves and took the equation to 5-runs being needed in 1 ball.
Sanju Samson in the face of immense pressure couldn’t take his team to victory as Deepak Hooda took a simple catch on the last ball of the game.
