Rajasthan Royals (RR) lost their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with four goals in a thrilling final game at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday, May 7.
This came after RR pacer Sandeep Sharma failed to defend the last 17 runs. He almost won the game for the Royals but then missed the last serve when SRH claimed four points on the last ball. Abdul Samad strained to hit a six to finish the final ball to create one of the most thrilling victories of IPL 2023.
That happened even though RR posted 214/2. Jos Buttler smashed 95 out of 59 balls with a hit rate of 161.02, including 4 6s and 10 throws. Sanju Samson also scored 66 out of 38 serves, including 5 maxes and 4 overruns. Yashasvi Jaiswal also won with 35 out of 18. For SRH, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Marco Jansen took the single score.
Chasing at 215, Abhishek Sharma (55 out of 34) and Anmolpreet Singh (33 out of 25) made a perfect start for SRH. Rahul Tripathi (47 of 29) and Heinrich Klassen (26 of 12) have continued the hunt for SRH. Glenn Phillips (25 of 70 and Abdul Samad (17 of 7) then played up late to give Hyderabad the win.
Yuzvendra Chahal emerged as the pitchers’ choice for RR, returning to 4/29. Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldip Yadav each took a racket.
Fans mocked RR and Sandeep Sharma for losing the game on the last serve. One user tweeted:
“When life gives you the chance to be an underrated player in the IPL. Be Abdul Samad, not Riyan Parag.”
Here are some other best Twitter reactions:
Sanju Samson supported Sandeep Sharma but did not regret the error ball
Sanju Samson says he backed Sandeep Sharma to beat the final after his heroic displays before Super King Chennai (CSSK). However, he seemed frustrated with the ballless ball when the right-arm speed controller ultimately failed to make it.
Speaking on the show after the game, Samson said:
“I was confident with Sandeep (the defender in the final). He won us one game from a similar situation (against CSK). He did it again today, but that no ball ruined our result. Sandeep knows what to do.”
He continued:
“There can be a slight shift in thinking for a few seconds when you feel that the job is done. Everyone celebrates, but I think that’s the essence of this game. You cannot enter that moment. With the goal we posted, you can only feel happy when you win the game right. Not happy at the moment.”
RR will now find a way back to the previous winning path Knight Knights of Kolkata (KKR) at the Garden of Eden in Kolkata on Thursday, May 11.
