Thanks to Chris Morris’ cameo of 18-ball 36 (4 sixes), Rajasthan Royals (RR) registered their first victory in the IPL 2021 as they defeated Delhi Capitals (DC) by three wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday (April 15).
Royals were 90/6 at one stage and after David Miller got out, scoring 62 runs off 43 balls, they found themselves reeling at 104/7.
With 27 needed off the final two overs, Morris stepped up to the occasion. The South African all-rounder smashed Kagiso Rabada for 15 runs in the penultimate over, before hitting Tom Curran for a couple of sixes in the last over to seal the deal with two balls to spare.
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“I thought Delhi bowled really well, David played an unplayable knock. In T20 cricket anything can happen in the end, fortunately things went our way in the end,” Morris told host broadcaster Star Sports after the game.
“Dew plays a part here at the Wankhede, it does start to skid on. They hit the back of a length a lot better than we did. We got a few wickets early on, but they hit their lengths way better than we did. Our guys are experienced in taking pace off the ball and executed really well today. If we had to chase 140 odd when we got here, we would have taken it, so happy to get over the line,” he added.
Talking about his batting style, Morris said: “There are guys who get paid to bat and there are guys who get paid to slog, I know what I am. I am a slogger that swings everything I can, I play so much golf.”
Rajasthan Royals skipper Samson had denied Chris Morris a single in the first game when RR needed five runs off the last two deliveries against Punjab Kings. The RR skipper then couldn’t take his team home as he got out on the last ball after playing a whirlwind knock of 63-ball 119.
Reflecting on the incident from the previous match, Morris said: “I was gonna run back no matter what to sacrifice because Sanju was hitting it so sweetly. Sanju was hitting it like a dream, I wouldn’t have been too upset if he had hit the last ball for a six.”
“The last game, the close game, we took so much out of that as a team. Chasing 222, it’s quite a daunting task. For us to get as close as we did on the day, we took a lot out of that first game of ours. Guys took a lot of confidence into the game, but it’s quite nice to know that we can win a game basically from anywhere after being down in the dumps. That’s T20 cricket.”
Rajasthan Royals will take on Chennai Super Kings in their next game on Monday (April 19).
