IPL 2020, RR vs KXIP: Samson, Tewatia set Twitter on fire as fans witness a run-fest in Sharjah
Rajasthan Royals did the unthinkable on Sunday by chasing down 224-run target against Kings XI Punjab in the Match 9 of IPL 2020. The match entered in the record books as it was the highest run chase in tournament's history. Rahul Tewatia, who once looked like a villain the middle, turned out to be the real hero of the game for Rajasthan Royals in the epic chase. Tewatia slammed 53 runs off 31 balls after a slow start to his innings to script a memorable win for his team.
Earlier, Kings XI Punjab was sent out to bat by Steve Smith, and they had one of the best starts in the Indian Premier League history as the openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul shared a 183-run stand. Mayank played a fabulous knock of 106 runs in 50 deliveries to slam his maiden IPL century. While Rahul continued his sublime form and hit 69 runs. While Pooran finished the KXIP innings in style with quickfire 25-run innings in 8 balls.
Chasing the massive target, RR lose their star opener Jos Buttler (4) early but Steve Smith and Sanju Samson rebuild the innings and put them back into the game. Smith scored 50 runs off 27 balls, while Samson played an outstanding innings of 85 in 42 balls to set up the stage for the chase.
After Smith's dismissal, RR decided to send Rahul Tewatia up the order. The southpaw had a miserable start to the innings as he was struggling against KXIP spinners. But Samson was in a different level altogether as he kept on plundering the fours and sixes. He collected 21 runs off Glenn Maxwell in the 16th over before Mohammed Shami had him dismissed in the first ball of the next over. After his dismissal, Tewatia didn't waste much time to get back in touch as he slammed five sixes in Sheldon Cottrell's 18th over at the fag end of the match. He was finally out in the last ball of the 19th over and after that Jofra Archer (13 not out) and Tom Curran (4 not out) took the Royals home.
The exciting batting display from both the teams set Twitter on fire as Tewatia, Samson and Mayank grabbed the limelight on social media.
