Sanju Samson and Co were witness to one of the most topsy turvy finishes in the 2023 Indian Premier League. With five runs to win off the last ball, Abdul Samad would find the fielder at long off as Sandeep Sharma managed to pull off another death overs gig with the ball. Or so it seemed as the umpire signalled a front foot no ball followed by a straight six that sealed a four-wicket win for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
It was cricket at its cruel best. A sixth defeat for Rajasthan Royals in 11 games and a dent in their hopes of trimming down the gap between them and the top seated teams in the points table.
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Following the match, RR skipper Sanju Samson would display the softest sign of frustration as former England international and broadcaster Nick Knight enquired if the 214 put on the board in the first innings looked a low score in hindsight. “That’s a great question… I don’t know,” Samson would respond on air.
WHAT. A. GAME 😱😱
Abdul Samad wins it for the @SunRisers as he hits a maximum off the final delivery. #SRH win by 4 wickets.
“This is what IPL gives you, matches like these makes the IPL special. You can never, never, never feel like you have won the game,” he also added.
Backing his designated death overs bowler Samson said, “I knew any opponent can win it and they were batting well too, but I was confident with Sandeep (defending the final over). He has won us a game from a similar situation (against CSK). He did it again today but that no-ball ruined our result. We played really well with the bat to put up that kind of a score on this wicket, but I think they batted really sensibly, credit has to go to them for the way they batted.”
On his emotions regarding the no-ball he’d say, “Nothing much, it’s a no ball, just have to bowl it again as simple as that, you don’t think about it too much. Sandeep knows what to do.”
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Earlier, Samson (66 off 38) had combined alongside Jos Buttler (95 off 59) to propel Rajasthan to what seemed like an above par total before Abhishek Sharma (55 off 34) and Rahul Tripathi (47 off 29) set the platform for Heinrich Klaasen (26 off 12) and Glenn Phillips (25 off 7) to capitalise upon later.
Screengrab: Sanju Samson reacts during Rajasthan Royals' match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Jaipur on Sunday. (IPL/Twitter) 
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