zen Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 (edited) Match Report: IPL 2020 | M9 | RR vs K11 | Sharjah | Sept 27th A match up of teams with big hitters on a small ground is usually an interesting one. This one promised even more since both teams were coming to the game with impressive wins in their last games. The toss was won by Rajasthan Royals (The Wild Wild West team of the IPL). Captain Smith elected to field first, hoping to pick up early wickets. However, the hope remained a hope as Agarwal and Rahul forged a 183 runs partnership for Kings 11 Punjab. After Agarwal's departure, who scored a 106 of 50 balls with 7 6s, Kings 11 could not capitalize much till Pooran came to the party with a 25 of only 8 balls. That inning could never have happened if Uthappa had taken his catch early on. As they say "whatever happens, happens for the good" - those runs laid the foundation for an exciting chase. In the 2nd innings, Royals were expected to come out blazing by going for big shots. The early departure of Buttler only brought in the man-in-form Samson. Samson-Smith crafted a valuable partnership nullifying the hard work done by Agarwal for Kings 11. Smith's departure brough in Tewatia who began to stall the momentum. Samson decided to take the bowlers on his own and succeeded. One of his hits was miraculously saved by Pooran from going for a 6, one of the best piece of fielding efforts of all time. Once Samson's heroic effort ended, it was left up to Tewatia to make amends. As if a magical power had entered his bat, Tewatia too made one of the best individual comebacks in the history of IPL by smashing 5 6s of Cottrell's over. The man who had stalled the momentum energized the Royals to make the team arrive at the doorsteps of victory. In the fitting end to this memorable game, Curran dispatched M Ashwin for a 4 to take the Royals over the line. Samson was named the Man of the Match for his power knock. Overall, a memorable day for cricket with interesting innings by Agarwal, Pooran, Smith, Samson and Tewatia. Pooran also made that magical fielding attempt. Nothing much was expected of the bowlers on this ground but they played their part in making this one of the most memorable games and, if I am not wrong, the highest chase ever in IPL's history. Cheers to cricket! @Trichromatic Edited September 27, 2020 by zen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real McCoy Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 38 minutes ago, zen said: Curran dispatched Bishnoi for a 4 to take the Royals over the line. Samson was named the Man of the Match for his power knock. It was M Ashwin who bowled the last over. Please correct this. Was an excellent writeup zen 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen Posted September 27, 2020 Author Share Posted September 27, 2020 Captainy notes as well (from the other thread): Quote M9 RR: Smith Fitness: Nothing to complain Captaincy: Close to the innovation and proactiveness expected from A+ captaincy: a) In the later part of K11 batting, Smith had the bowlers bowl to one side of the field to help restrict K11, b) The promotion and faith shown in Tewatia, who hit 5 6s in an over, and c) Won the toss and elected to field - so a change in pattern based on the feedback from players rather than continuing to bat first like in the last game that RR won at the same venue DRS: Did not observe Keeping/Fielding: Did his job Batting: Pass .... Great batting to seize back the initiative that Agarwal's inning provided to K11 Toss: Won .... Elected to field first Score: A+ .... The first A+ score of the tournament as Smith's captaincy was close enough to the A+ level K11: KL Fitness: Nothing to complain Captaincy: By the book DRS: Did not observe .... However, his team appealed on a couple of occasion but did not go for the review Keeping/Fielding: Did his job Batting: Pass .... But with concerns of not batting quick enough. Appeared to focus on singles at a venue where boundaries were the way to go. Maybe was focused on being consistent than playing impactful innings that can enable his team to bat the opposition out (or even worse remain not out) Toss: N/A Score: C .... For an avg day at the office while not trying to seize the initiative to bat the opposition out despite playing so many balls and being the man in form Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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