From raining SIXES to all the extra drama, the clash between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was a blockbuster.
From raining SIXES to all the extra drama, the clash between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was a blockbuster.
Sharjah saw RR cruise to a 16-run win over Chennai in their first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday (Septemeber 22).
Sanju Samson was unbelievable as he made the CSK spinners cry. For Chennai, Faf and Dhoni did all they could - dispatching nearly 10 sixes into the streets - but it all came a little too late.
Nevertheless, the bottom-line, for the day, is that CSK fell short and lost by 16 runs.
1. Samson's lightning knock of 74 runs off just 32 deliveries
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Sanju Samson registered the quickest half-century of his IPL career. The 25-year-old was in red-hot form and played a smashing 19-ball 50 for the men in pink.
The Indian wicketkeeper-batsman struck six sixes and one boundary to bag the fastest half-century of his IPL career.
However, Samson's lightning knock of 74 runs off just 32 deliveries came to an end after Deepak Chahar took an excellent catch.
Sanju's 73-run innings also consisted of 9 huge maximums.
Fastest IPL fifty in UAE:
19 David Miller v RR 2014
19 Sanju Samson v CSK 2020*
20 Marcus Stoinis v KXIP 2020
21 Glenn Maxwell v SRH 2014
25 Glenn Maxwell v CSK 2014
2. Tom Curran - who was given out - was called back to play
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Tom Curran was given out but was called back to play. Curran looked shell-shocked when he was given out caught behind by Deepak Chahar's ball.
He wanted a review only to realises to his horror that he can't do it. It was just some balls prior that RR had lost their review to Tewatia.
The umpires had given out, however, they continued to talk for a while and then sent Curran on his way. But the replays showed that the ball might not have carried.
The ball had not even edged the bat and had gone off the thigh-pad and after checking for the catch. The ball also bounced clearly in front of MS Dhoni and was not out. Curran was then called back to resume batting.
3. Jofra Archer strikes against CSK
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Archer, who is mostly renowned for his bowling prowess, showed exactly how much destructive he can be with the bat too.
In the 19th over, Archer unleashed his powers and smashed Lungi Ngidi for four back-to-back sixes from the first four balls of the over.
His 8-ball 27 cameo also propelled RR to 216/7 from their 20 overs. Ngidi ended up giving away 30 runs in the final over.
While the sixes were gargantuan, what makes that more 'magical' is that the pacer had already predicted that he would be doing.
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— Jofra Archer (@JofraArcher) January 9, 2015
4. Leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia magic
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Leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia from Haryana returned with figures of 3/17 in his first two overs and eventually finished at 3/37.
The 27-year-old sent Shane Watson, Sam Curran and debutant Ruturaj Gaikwad back to the pavilion.
Tewatia made his IPL debut in 2014 and was noticed in 2017 during his stint with Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).
He had picked up the crucial wickets of Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir to help Kings stay afloat in the tournament.
He was sold to Delhi Capitals for Rs 3 crore in 2018. Tewatia has appeared in 48 domestic T20 matches scoring 628 runs along with 30 wickets.
5. Faf du Plessis and MS Dhoni's hardwork in vain
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Faf du Plessis's 37-ball 72 had propelled CSK to an almost reaching distance and skipper MS Dhoni did showcase his power-hitting with three consecutive sixes in the final over.
He even stayed unbeaten 29 off 17 balls, however, it was not enough as CSK finished the day on 200/6.
