The Rajasthan Royals fell nine runs short in a thrilling chase against the unfancied Mumbai Indians, despite Sanju Samson’s hard-fought, vibrant 46-ball 76.
After losing the toss and being put in Mumbai had an escape on the second ball as Samson, also the wicketkeeper, spilled a straightforward catch after Tim Southee found Lendl Simmons’ edge. The batting side responded with some hard hitting, before Parthiv Patel again failed to make good on a start, hitting a return catch to Dhawal Kulkarni after making 23 from 14 balls.
Simmons was, from then on, untroubled on his way to 38, before he was adjudged lbw to Ankit Sharma. He could feel aggrieved, however, given that the ball clearly came off the middle of the bat as the batsman tried to paddle-sweep. It was that same shot that saw the downfall of Rohit Sharma, batting too low at four, as he was caught by Ankit off of Kulkarni’s bowling for 27.
At 120 for four the innings looked to be in danger of petering out but some clean, aggressive hitting at the end from Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu lifted them to what proved to be a winning score of 187 for five with a partnership of 61 from 29 balls.
The Royals’ chase also saw an opener let off in the first over, as Jagadeesha Suchith dropped Ajinkya Rahane, the leading scorer in this year’s competition. However, the damage proved minimal, with Vinay Kumar taking his wicket for 16 in the fourth over.
The Royals managed to stick with the required rate but suffered a setback when Shane Watson, who was beginning to look settled, attempted a cut and was bowled by Suchith for 28. However, his replacement at the crease, Steve Smith, proved a good foil for Samson and his late dab to third man in Harbhajan Singh’s final over brought up the 50 partnership for the third wicket.
Samson brought up his individual half-century, in 35 balls, in the next over from Mitchell McClenaghan but the New Zealand left-arm seamer had the dangerous Smith caught by Harbhajan off the following ball for 23. Samson continued to score boundaries, including an audacious ramp shot for four off Lasith Malinga, and looked set to carry his side to victory.
However, McClenaghan’s final over proved terminal for the Royals. One ball after driving a brilliant six over cover the young wicketkeeper-batsman holed out with 27 runs still needed and Stuart Binny departed the next ball. Although the big-hitting Deepak Hooda survived the hat-trick ball, he was dismissed with the first ball of the next over by Malinga and the contest was effectively over.
