Rahul Tewatia Pulls Off A Heist
This match happened in the 2020. Punjab batted first and posted a huge total of 223 runs. Thanks to the 183 run opening partnership of the openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal. Mayank scored a century in that match and was thrashing RR‘s bowlers all around the park.
Chasing a huge total, RR lost Buttler earlier but Steven Smith and Sanju Samson took control of the chase from there. Smith got out after scoring a fifty. Â RR score was 100 runs in 9 overs at that time. Then Rahul Tewatia came to bat. He struggled to time the ball initially which affected the run rate of RR.
Fans who were watching the match in the stadium and in the television were irritated by his innings and wanted him to get out soon. But Samson tried his best to keep the run rate in good pace. But once he got out for 85(42), everyone literally lost hope. Then Sheldon Cottrell came to bowl the 18th over.
RR needed 51 runs from 18 balls and Tewatia on the strike. Rahul Tewatia silenced all the critics who were thrashing him since that over. He smashed 5 sixes off Sheldon Cottrell and made up for all the dot balls he played till then. The equation completely changed now. RR required 21 off 12. Shami came to bowl the penultimate over. Archer smashed 2 sixes and Tewatia smashed one more six of that over to seal the match for RR.
He got out in the last ball of Shami but already created the damage. RR chased the target in the last over which was then the highest chase in IPL history.
Sanju Samson’s alone battle
This match happened in the next year IPL 2021 after that Tewatia’s magic in 2020. Punjab batted first and once again posted a mammoth total for RR. They posted 221 runs in 20 overs with the help of KL Rahul’s 91(55), Deepak Hooda’s 64(28) and Chris Gayle’s 40(28). In reply Samson was playing a lone warrior innings but couldn’t get any support from the other end.
Last year’s hero Tewatia got out for just 2 runs this time. But Samson was unstoppable as he scored a century in the chase and still going strong. RR needed 5 runs in the last ball and Samson was in strike. Arshdeep Singh bowled a full delivery on off side and Samson couldn’t connect it well a he get caught in the covers. Samson got out on 119 off 63 balls. Had he connected that ball, it could have ended as the greatest innings in IPL chase. Still it is.
Fiery Spell from RR pacers
RR and PBKS faced in another close encounter in the same year 2021. This time RR batted first and posted 185 runs on the board. PBKS in reply batted really well and were in a comfortably in the chase. At one time they scored 178 runs after 18 overs, required just 8 runs in the last 2 overs with two settled batters Aiden Markram and Nicholos Pooran in the crease. Everyone thought it’s all over for RR and it just a matter of time for these two batters to finish the match.
Mustafizur Rahman bowled the penultimate over and kept it very tight with mixing his variations and gave just 4 runs in the over. Now Punjab needed 4 runs off 6 balls. Still RR had very less hopes as the ball was given to youngster Kartik Tyagi against dangerous Nicholos Pooran. But Tyagi surprised everyone by his extraordinary Yorkers and gave just 1 run and took 2 wickets. RR won the match by just 2 runs. RR fast bowlers gave just 5 runs in the last two overs and those two overs would be remembered as greatest bowling spell while defending the Target in IPL.
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