Sanju Samson's valiant effort went in vain as Rajasthan Royals lost their second consecutive match in the Indian Premier League 2024 on Tuesday, May 7. Chasing a target of 222 against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the Royals ended up making 201 despite Samson's 86-run knock from 46 balls.
The visitors were in the hunt when Samson was out there, hitting bowlers all around the park. His stroke-filled knock included eight fours and six maximums but his knock came to an end when he was given out on a close call in the 16th over. Mukesh got Samson's wicket as Shai Hope took a brilliant catch but was very close to the boundary ropes.
The third umpire took a look at the dismissal but deemed it out. Samson was unhappy with the dismissal and did not wanted to leave the field either. He went on to have a chat with the umpire and even wanted a review, but he was denied of it. After his wicket, the Capitals sensed victory but still needed to do some work to get the win under their belt.
The Royals lost wickets in a bundle after that and fell short by 20 runs at the end.
Youngster Shubham Dubey was out there with Rovman Powell joining him. RR also had Donovan Ferreira but DC then choked the Royals. Khaleel Ahmed got Dubey caught at long-on and then Kuldeep came to bowl his final over of the day in the 18th over. He got Donovan and Ravichandran Ashwin and gave only four runs to probably kill the contest.
With 37 needed off the final two overs, the Royals had only Powell out there. He was new to the crease and on the back of some good bowling by Rasikh Salam in the 19th over, the equation came down to 29 needed off six balls. Mukesh bowled the final over and got Powell on the second ball as the Royals fell 20 runs short.
This is RR's second straight loss as they earlier suffered a defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad a few days ago by 1 run. RR have still not qualified for the playoffs. They needed just a win today to officially book their tickets for the knockouts but failed on this attempt.
RR are still placed in the second spot in the standings with 16 points in 11 matches and need a win in the next three games to sail through. Meanwhile, Delhi are back in the playoff race as they have pipped Lucknow Super Giants from the 5th spot. DC have 12 points from 12 matches and stay in the hunt for the knockouts.
