Rajasthan Royal’s Tewatia shines as he makes his first IPL 50 to beat Kings XI Punjab by 4 wickets.

What a crazy match that was? 449 runs in 39.3 overs! This is IPL. This is T20 cricket for you.

Dream11 IPL 2020’s 9th match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) was as thrilling as it could get. Sharjah Cricket Stadium being one of the shortest grounds for the ongoing tournament is a nightmare for bowlers. Mayank Agarwal’s (KXIP) century couldn’t be this exciting but Rahul Tewatia (RR) had our jaws dropped. From zero to hero, he has proved his worth.

Happy dug-out of Rajasthan Royals.

Picture courtesy : NDTV Sports

KL Rahul (KXIP’s skipper) came out to bat with Mayank Agarwal after putting to bat first by Steve Smith captaining Rajasthan Royals. The pitch seemed more favorable to batsmen so the Royals felt it would be better to chase down the total. And with Jos Butler returning, any score on the board was gettable.

Kings XI openers were off to a great start. KL and Agarwal have played together for Karnataka at domestic level which is why their coordination was on point. The two of them took quick runs by running between the wickets and also hit the ball for boundaries time and again.

Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul out in the middle.

Picture courtesy : Cricket Addictor

The 100th 6 of IPL 2020 was hit by Agarwal off Unadkat at 2.5 overs. It was 66 meters long. In the next over, Jofra Archer was given the new ball for he could bowl with a lot of variations. KL welcomed him with 3 back to back boundaries. 50 runs came up for Kings XI in the fifth over with another boundary by Agarwal. Both the batsmen played brilliantly scoring 60 runs in the power play with no loss of wickets. The highest score in the power play record was broken last night after surpassing Mumbai Indians’ 59/1.

The opening partnership kept building up. KL hit aerial shots being in the perfect position to do so and Mayank hit the gaps very well. Soon Mayank reached his 7th IPL fifty with a six off 26 balls. A couple more runs and another 6 in the next ball bought up 100 for Kings XI Punjab. That was 84 meters long. This also meant that the partnership has also hit a century off 54 calls. More than half of the innings was underway.

The lush green and fast outfield supported the batters for they were playing at a run rate of more than 10 per over. A target of 220 (minimum) was the projected score.

The KXIP skipper reached his 17th IPL 50 off 35 balls in the 12th over. He started slow but now had joined the party with hitting sixes all over the park. He maintains the highest strike rate of 369.2 in ‘the slot’ (length of the pitch) vs seamers in this season. He surely is a KLassic hitter with Mayank Agarwal playing all shots (reminds us of Mr. 360) including the famous Nataraj shot played by Kapil Dev and what a ground to play such a shot at!

These two lads out there had the absolute freedom to hammer but they kept their innings under control. They rotated strike soon after hitting boundaries for simple reasons like – they didn’t want to drain themselves and hit a loose shot and wanted the bowler and fielding unit to get annoyed of changing line and length and fielding positions for these 2 batsmen. Nevertheless, they broke another record of scoring not only the highest partnership in all IPL but also highest opening partnership at 183 runs.

Agarwal scored his maiden IPL hundred with a boundary. He did so in just 45 balls. He hit 10 4s and 7 6s.This was the 8th fastest IPL century. The first one is by his teammate Chris Gayle who scored a 100 from just 30 balls against Pune Warriors Sahara in 2013. Agarwal’s century is also the 2nd fastest century by an Indian in IPL after Yusuf Pathan who played for Rajasthan Royals back in 2010. He did so against Mumbai Indians in 37 deliveries.

Mayank Agarwal celebrating his century.

Picture courtesy : My Khel

A good 16th over by Ankit Rajoot bought things under control for it costed just 6 runs. And bang! Here comes the breakthrough they worked for. Mayank walked back to the dugout scoring 106 runs off 50 balls. He batted everywhere but a badly timed shot made the ball land safely in Sanju Samson’s hands.

The new man in Glenn Maxwell was expected to play unorthodox shots like Agarwal and score quick runs. But Rajpoot compelled KL to change his game and produce shots instead of playing his natural game. This led to KL hitting a slower ball and getting caught by Shreyas Gopal at third man. The skipper played a slow innings scoring 69 off 54 balls. But this had the orange cap get back on his head from Faf du Plesis (Chennai Super Kings). Whereas, Rajpoot was the only cheapest bowlers from the Royals side and yet had the economy of more than 9 runs per over.

Next, Nicholas Pooran played a couple of good cricketing shots. He continued where KL and Agarwal left off. And set a mammoth target of 223 runs for the Rajasthan Royals to chase down at the run rate of 11+ per over.

With openers Jos Buttler and Steve Smith, the intentions were made clear. They wanted to go big every over and they never put their heads down. Mohammad Shami, a great rhythmic bowler fell prey to Smith’s straight head and good footwork which had the ball sailing towards the boundary rope. But Buttler had to depart in the 3rd over, Cottrell’s second after making 4 runs off 7 balls.

The new man in Sanju Samson hit a 6 off the 2nd ball he faced off Cottrell. He too continued from where he had left against the Chennai Super Kings.

Sanju Samson, what a player he is. I have said for a long time and I think Sanju Samson is probably one of the most exciting players I have seen for a long time. I am surprised that he is not playing all forms of cricket for India, said Shane Warne, former Australian spinner, former RR captain and current brand ambassador for Rajasthan Royals on Instagram live session done by the franchise.

The Kings XI fielded exceptionally well because such was the urgency. Smith and Sanju kept dealing in boundaries. At the end of 4 overs, KXIP were 40/0 whereas RR were 44/1. Speaks volumes on how desperate are the Royals to win each game they go out to play.

Sanju Samson and Steve Smith out in the middle.

Picture courtesy : India Today

Samson hit his 100th 6 in IPL which also bought up 50 for Rajasthan Royals in the 5th over. Sanju had now scored 880 runs for his franchise since 2018. By the end of 6th over, we also witnessed a budding partnership of 50 runs from 24 balls. The score was 69/1 at the end of power play. Another highest of IPL.

It is rightly said that records are meant to be broken.

The 8th over was given to leggie Murugan Ashwin. And what happened on his third ball has widened our eyes. Samson pulled over deep mid-wicket where Pooran leaped full over the ropes to flick the ball inside, just a millisecond before falling on the ground. He saved 4 runs for his team and what an effort! He received a standing ovation from their fielding coach Jonty Rhodes. He definitely can’t get a better student!

“That’s the best I have seen,” Kevin Pietersen said on air.

“This is the best save I have seen in my life. Simply incredible!!” tweeted Sachin Tendulkar.

The next over by James Neesham was full of drama too. The Royals were battling the huge total in a convincing manner. Smith reached his 10th IPL half century. The next ball, 100 was up for the batting side. And just the next ball, Smith was caught by Shami at deep cover. He had to depart with 50 runs off 26 balls. At this stage, the Kings XI had not only broken the partnership but also the momentum for the opposition.

The best and the worst thing was that Samson was yet out on the crease. After M.S. Dhoni’s retirement, Samson could be a huge prospect for the Indian Cricket Team because Samson can keep wickets too. In this innings, Samson effortlessly found the slot and kept hitting the ball. On the other end, Rahul Tewatia kept struggling. He was expected to play a cameo here, instead, he took singles which added pressure on Samson. They together could be a part of a record breaking run chase.

Sometimes the teams get too obsessed with the lefty and righty combination. May be this was the reason to promote Tewatia before Robin Uthappa. Consequently, the Royals management didn’t send their best batters up the order. Which is very crucial because you want your best players facing maximum deliveries. Good fielding by the Kings XI kept building pressure and this made sure that Tewatia’s singles to go in vain.

Tewatia scored in single digits even after facing 20 odd balls. Out of no where, he hit a 6 off Ravi Bishnoi in the 15th over. This must have relived Tewatia but he had to go through the same trajectory back to back for his team to win. In the next over, Glenn Maxwell was hammered for sixes by Samson. With Samson’s 15th maximum this season, 150 was up for RR. The partnership also reached 52 of 39 balls. This was just a glimmer of hope for the Royal fans.

Now I am better. The worst 20 balls I have ever played. The dugout knows I can hit the ball long. I knew I had to believe in myself. It was a matter of one six – said Rahul Tewatia at the post match presentation ceremony.

Shami came back hard in his third over, taking a wicket of Samson on the first ball itself. There was no pace in the ball which led to no contact and an easy catch for KL behind the wickets. A splendid innings of 85 off 42 balls came to an end. With the set batsman walking back, the Jaipur based franchise seemed hopeless for they had to make 51 runs in the last three overs.

This feeling of hopelessness and wasting a lot of deliveries sparked a light in Tewatia. With the old ball to Cottrell, Tewatia hit 4 sixes! You read it right! 4 sixes in a row. One of them went straight out of the park. Strong emotions from both the dug outs. We were on the edge of our seats, especially former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh

Thanks for missing out on one ball – said Yuvi who hit record-making six 6s off Stuard Broad at 2007 T20 World Cup

The fifth ball was a dot ball. Great comeback by Cottrell but at what cost? It was a relief particularly for Yuvraj Singh but the damage had been done. The last ball also went racing for 5th six in that over. Tewatia transformed his strike rate from 60 to 160, real quick.

Rahul Tewati hitting back to back sixes.

Picture courtesy : The Times of India

The 19th over to Shami was a big blow for both the teams. It involved 2 wickets of Robbie at 9(4) and Tewatia at 53(31) on the first and last ball respectively but it also included 3 sixes, one of them from the new man Jofra Archer. Pushing the Royals to chase down just 2 runs from the last over, the viewership on the digital platform reached a whopping 5.4million.

The last over was given to leggie Ashwin at a very wrong time. He bowled out Riyan Parag for a duck on his second ball googly. Next ball went for a 4, closing the game for the Royals. They won by 4 wickets with 3 balls to spare.

The Kings XI skipper played a great innings the other day, inspite of another 100 from the lion’s den, the show belonged to Rahul Tewatia. This is the most dramatic cameo IPL has ever witnessed and highest successful run chase. Sanju Samson was awarded the Man of the Match award for his crucial knock of 85 runs.

I was hitting it well since the past one year. So I was just sticking to my routine and feeling confident. I am happy to win a few games – Sanju Samson at the post match presentation ceremony.

Pooran’s gravity defying catch was not enough for Tewatia to lose his hope and lose his nerve. Sad day out for Anil Kumble for his team did everything right yet ended on the losing side.

We have to keep our chin up and come back stronger – said KL Rahul, skipper of Kings XI Punjab at the post match presentation ceremony.

Match Summary :

Kings XI Punjab 223/2 (20)

Playing XI – KL Rahul (C & WK), Mayank Agarwali, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, James Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Shami and Sheldon Cottrell.

Rasjasthan Royals 226/6 (19.3)

Playing XI – Steve Smith (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Ankit Rajpoot and Jaydev Unadkat.

Winning team – Rajasthan Royals (by 4 wickets and 3 balls to spare)

Points Table – Rajasthan Royals at #2 and Kings XI Punjab at #3

Man of the Match – Sanju Samson

Dream11 Game Changer – Mayank Agarwal

Altroz Super Striker of the Match – Mayank Agarwal

Unacademy Let’s Crack it Sixes – Sanju Samson

CRED Power Player of the Match – Steve Smith

This mysterious game came to an end in favour of the men in pink but we have another nail-biter coming up in a couple of hours.

Will the Royal Challengers Bangalore come back stronger or will the Mumbai Indians continue their winning streak? Great action coming up. Stay tuned!