In the third match of Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, Rahul Tewatia gave the testimony of his brilliant hitting skills as he smashed 5 sixes off Sheldon Cotrell in the 18th over of the chase when RR was requiring 51 runs off last three overs. Eventually, the Royals won the match by four wickets and as many balls to spare.
Earlier, RR skipper, Steve Smith had won the toss and decided to bowl first citing the heavy dew factor in the second innings. RR had made a couple. changes in their squad as David Miller, Yashawi Jaiswal, made way for Ankit Rajpoot and Jos Buttler. However, KXOp went unchanged after a thrashing win over CSK.
WATCH – Nicholas Pooran Stuns Everyone With His Brilliant Save At Boundary
While chasing a daunting target of 224 runs, with the pitch offering nothing to the bowlers and the dimensions of the ground being smaller in size, Nicholas Pooran did his side a big favor in the clash when he saved a brilliant six on the boundary line with his outstanding effort. Rajasthan Royals came out all guns blazing after KXIP smashed as many as 223 for 2 in their allotted 20 overs.
In the first innings, Mayank Agarwal had amassed 106 in just 50 balls as he made a huge partnership of 183 runs with fellow opener KL Rahul (69 off 54 balls) to guide Punjab to the huge total. But the big total did not stop the Royals from going for the from the very first ball. Despite losing Jos Buttler cheaply, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson took the attack to the opposition.
WATCH – Rahul Tewatia Smashed 5 Sixes To Sheldon Cottrell
At the end of the powerplay, the Royals reached a score of 69 for the loss of 1 wicket. Even after the end of the fielding restrictions, both the batsmen kept playing the big shots as Royals crossed the 100-run by the end of 9th over. However, after the dismissal of Smith in the 9th over, all eyes were on Sanju Samson who played a brilliant knock of 85 off 42 balls, but eventually was dismissed by Mohammed Shami in the 17th over when the Royals were requiring 63 runs, and Tetwatia was playing 17 off 21 balls.
Cottrell came out to ball the 18th over and Tewatia smashed him for six on each and every deliver batting penultimate one. While all the sixes went towards the leg-side, only one six went over long-off and the equation came down to RR needing 21 off the last two overs. In the penultimate over of Shami, RR scored 19 runs with the help of three sixes (two Archer and one from Tewatia). However, Tewatia got out on the final ball, but the Royal chased down the total with three balls to spare while needing two runs in the final over.
Match Summary:
Rajasthan Royals – 226/6 in 19.3 overs (S Samson: 85, R Tewatia: 53; S Shami: 3/53) defeated Kings XI Punjab – 223/2 in 20 overs (M Agarwal: 106, KL Rahul: 69; A Rajpoot: 1/39) by 4 wickets and three balls to spare
Here is how Twitterati reacted to the magical win of RR:
🚨RECORD ALERT🚨
We chase 224, the highest successful chase in #IPL history!! 🕺🕺
P.S. We beat our own record. 😉#RRvKXIP | #HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 27, 2020
WHAT HAVE WE JUST WITNESSED?!??!???! How good is the IPL?!?!!!!!
— Neroli Meadows (@Neroli_Meadows) September 27, 2020
After 17 overs, RR were 173-3.
Then: 6,6,6,6,0,6,W,6,6,1,6,W,0,W,4
A crazy chase if there has ever been one. RR, Tewatia… take a bow!
— Ashish Magotra (@clutchplay) September 27, 2020
449 runs made in this T20! Poor bowlers.. #KXIPvsRR
— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) September 27, 2020
What. A. Game!!!!! @IPL 🤷🏼♂️🔥
— Sam Billings (@sambillings) September 27, 2020
Mr @rahultewatia02 na bhai na 😅 thanks for missing one ball ! What a game congratulations to rr for a spectacular win !!! #RRvKXIP @mayankcricket great knock @IamSanjuSamson brilliant !
— Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) September 27, 2020
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1310277604147068929?s=20
Flat wicket, small ground, but still! Ridiculous chase by the Royals. IPL is truly alive now.
— Sambit Bal (@sambitbal) September 27, 2020
What a Game @lionsdenkxip vs @rajasthanroyals brilliant chase by young guns..@IamSanjuSamson #IPL @rahultewatia02 outstanding hitting in the end 👌💪👏✅ Sanju what a talent he is.. should be plying for India in all format with such talent 👏👏
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) September 27, 2020
As I had said, no total is unchasable at Sharjah
Brilliant effort from both teams to give us the best match of this year's IPL so far!
The difference was KXIP bowlers' lengths tonight!#RRvKXIP https://t.co/DMDhh96PUF— Vinod Kambli (@vinodkambli349) September 27, 2020
A long standing record from the inaugural IPL season has been broken today.
RR have chased down the highest biggest target in IPL history today.
Previous biggest was also by RR, 215 vs DC in 2008. #IPL2020 #RRvKXIP
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) September 27, 2020
Australian Smith's belief of never giving up, #samson's composed power hitting but without #Tewatia this match was nothing. #RRvKXIP #KXIPvsRR #KXIP #IPL2020
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) September 27, 2020
This @IPL is off to a DREAM start !!!!
— Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd) September 27, 2020
I think we should add a term to the dictionary. "Doing a Tewatia"
Rising from acute adversity to supreme prominence in just 10 mins.
— Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) September 27, 2020