Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson stated he can’t pinpoint a moment where they lost the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 13th match of the ongoing IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.
Samson feels his team did well to post a fighting score of 169 runs on the board after Faf du Plessis won the toss and decided to bowl first.
In fact, Rajasthan Royals had the match in their grasp as Royal Challengers Bangalore needed more than 80 runs off the last seven overs. However, Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed turned the match on its head with their blistering batting to get RCB over the line.
DK, who has evolved drastically in the last couple of years as a finisher, was able to hit the ground running as soon as he came to the crease. The veteran right-hander from Tamil Nadu, scored a match-winning knock of 44 runs off just 23 balls. Karthik took the attack on the RR bowlers as he found the leg-side boundaries consistently at the start of his innings.
On the other hand, Shahbaz Ahmed continued to impress as the left-hander scored 45 runs off just 26 balls. The right and left-hand batting duo added a fine alliance of 67 runs off just 32 balls, and it was the turning point in the game.
Sanju Samson said in the post-match presentation, “I can’t point out one moment where we lost the game. I thought it was a great effort to put up that total on such a slow wicket after losing the toss. Jos and Hetmyer batted brilliantly at the death. Taking the match to the last over with the dew coming in was a great effort as well.”
On whether he asked the umpires to change the ball because of dew, Samson said, “No I didn’t, I was confident about my bowlers. DK is someone with a lot of experience. We just need to take our time to set the field. Lots of positives to take out of this loss, and we can learn a lot of things as well.”
Meanwhile, earlier Rajasthan Royals had done well to post 169 runs on the board. Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer had scored 42 runs off just the two overs to get their team to the respectable score.
Yuzvendra Chahal was magnificent as he returned with impressive figures of 2-15 in his four overs. However, Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed turned the match in RCB’s favor with their blistering batting.
RR will next face Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.
