Abdul Samad put a last-ball free hit in the stands to seal the deal, reducing a fantastic Buttler-Samson stand to a footnote

Vishal Dikshit07-May-20232:22

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Just when Rajasthan Royals thought they had collected two points by defending 214 and had started to celebrate, their last-ball wicket transformed into a no-ball from Sandeep Sharma (called belatedly by the third umpire), and Abdul Samad smoked a straight six off the free hit to get Sunrisers Hyderabad the four more runs they needed, sparking wild celebrations in the orange camp while the players and home fans in pink were left stunned.Royals were well ahead of Sunrisers almost throughout the chase, with the asking rate rising and wickets falling regularly towards the end. Sunrisers, however, kept fighting back with big hits. The biggest turnaround came when they needed 41 from 12 and Glenn Phillips, in for Harry Brook, blasted three sixes and a four to reduce it to 19 off eight. The chase turned again when he fell on the next ball, and they needed 17 to win from the last over with Samad on strike.Samad was nearly caught twice in two balls, first dropped by Obed McCoy at short third resulting in two runs and then hitting a six just over Joe Root’s fingertips at long-on. Sandeep’s near-yorkers conceded just four off the next three and with five to win off the last ball, Samad found long-on while attempting another straight six, and Sandeep lifted his finger in celebration. But those smiles soon disappeared because Sandeep had overstepped and when he re-bowled the last ball – another attempted yorker, the length off by a few inches – Samad completed Sunrisers’ heist with a successful straight six right over the bowler’s head.Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler put on a rollicking 138-run stand•BCCIRoyals will rue the two dropped catches and a run-out chance in between which meant Jos Buttler’s scintillating return to form with a 95 off 59 and Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 66 off 38 went in vain. Despite their third loss in a row and fifth loss in six games, Royals are still in fourth position on the table, but RCB, Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings are level with them on 10 points and all have a game in hand. Sunrisers lifted themselves off the bottom and pushed Delhi Capitals back to the last spot.Brisk but not the quickest start for SRHAfter dropping Mayank Agarwal and Brook, Sunrisers were off to a brisk start with quick knocks from their top three. Anmolpreet Singh opened with the in-form Abhishek Sharma and started finding the boundaries, especially against the experienced Sandeep and R Ashwin. Abhishek joined in as well and with three fours off Sandeep in the fifth over, Sunrisers looked set for a strong powerplay finish except that Yuzvendra Chahal had Anmolpreet caught off a sweep for 33 and the visitors were a middling 52 for 1 after the powerplay.SRH (seemingly) leave too much too lateSoon after the powerplay ended, the asking rate shot up over 12 but Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek started with the big hits only when they needed 142 from 11 overs. Tripathi started with a six off M Ashwin and Abhishek collected sixes off both Ashwins before edging to short third for 55 when attempting another big shot.With Heinrich Klaasen promoted to No. 4 and the equation at 98 off 42, Samson gave M Ashwin a third over despite his first two going for 23 and despite having other bowling options around, and he leaked another 19 which kept Sunrisers in the game.Yuzvendra Chahal strikes before Glenn Phillips takes charge Samson turned to Yuzvendra Chahal, who was taken for a six and a four in the first four balls of his spell before fighting back with wicket of Klaasen for 26 off 12. With 57 to get from 24, Tripathi got a life when Samson dropped him down the leg side off McCoy and he cashed in with a six off the next ball. In his last over, when SRH needed 44 off 18, Chahal landed the big blows when Tripathi found deep midwicket right on the boundary and Markram missed a reverse sweep to be given lbw. Finishing with 4 for 29 after a three-run 18th over, Chahal also went level with Dwayne Bravo for the most IPL wickets and had almost done the job for Royals.The steep equation of 41 from 12 – and having not batted in a match situation for more than a month – didn’t make any difference to Phillips. He belted out three sixes at the start of the 19th when Kuldip Yadav missed his yorkers, and edged one for four before another twist came in the form of Phillips’ wicket when Shimron Hetmyer completed an excellent catch running towards the boundary on the leg side.With Sunrisers needing 17 from the last over, Samad kept going after the straight boundaries and eventually left Royals bewildered.ESPNcricinfo LtdAnother quick start from Yashasvi JaiswalHaving opted to bat, Royals saw Yashasvi Jaiswal continue his imperious form with a combination of intent and luck. He struck the first ball just over mid-on for four and on the fourth ball he could have been caught at fine leg, but debutant Vivrant Sharma misjudged the catch to concede another four. While Buttler was still searching for rhythm, Jaiswal hit Marco Jansen and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for sixes before collecting back-to-back fours off Jansen in the fifth over.Jaiswal fell for 35 off 18 when his attempt to clear short third off Jansen’s short ball resulted in an easy catch because of the extra bounce.Jos Buttler flicks the switch onButtler was on 20 off 20 at the end of the eighth, but Samson came in and started finding boundaries straightaway. The ninth over, by Mayank Markande, lifted Royals’ scoring rate further and that’s when Buttler got going too. After seeing Samson strike back-to-back sixes, Buttler ended the over with a pulled six to take the over for 21 overall.He brought out straight pulls and flourishing drives off the spinners to bring up a 32-ball fifty and keep the run rate comfortably over 10. Markande came back only to be hit for three more sixes, and Buttler jumped from 78 to 91 with three fours in the cover region, off Bhuvneshwar, in the 17th over.T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar rein in Royals at the endDespite the barrage of boundaries, T Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar bowled the 18th and 19th overs – peppered with yorkers – for just 12 runs, even as Samson reached his fifty off 33 balls. Their accuracy also accounted for Buttler when he walked across and Bhuvneshwar’s searing yorker trapped him lbw in front.Expecting more yorkers in the last over, Samson ramped and steered two fours, with a straight six in between, in a 17-run over to finish. It would not be enough for Royals in the end.