Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya’s damage from the powerplay was mitigated by Sanju Samson’s brilliant performance.
Rajasthan Royals were only able to score four runs in the first three overs since they had lost both Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Samson, though, scored 60 runs in 32 balls to immediately put RR back in the hunt. He initially built up a 43-run partnership off 34 balls for the third wicket with Devdutt Padikkal, and then a 59-run partnership with Shimron Hetmyer for the fifth wicket came in just 27 balls. After Samson was bowled by Afghan rookie spinner Noor Ahmad for GT, Hetmyer kept RR’s pursuit going. It was seam that dominated the powerplay early in the innings as RR lost Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler, with the latter going down for a duck.
David Miller gave the last push for RR as they limited GT to 177/7. When Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill went all out after the powerplay, GT appeared to be on track for a score near to 200. However, after the former’s departure, they lost momentum. Miller scored 46 points off 30 balls after being dropped by RR early in his innings.
