Rajasthan Royals (RR) pacer Kartik Tyagi on Tuesday (September 21) bowled an outstanding last over to defend four runs against Punjab Kings (PBKS). The victory wasn't in sight of Rajasthan when Punjab needed only 8 runs off the last two overs.
Mustafizur Rahman gave only four runs in his over, and Punjab were still way ahead in the match with only four runs needed to complete their fourth win of the season. To everyone's surprise, PBKS could only score 1 run and lost two wickets in the final over against Tyagi, and lost the match by 2 runs.
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The 20-year-old, who was the Player of the Match, said he was fortunate to play a crucial role in the team's win, "I was injured during the India leg of the IPL and by the time I got fit, the tournament was suspended. Felt sad. So this feels really good."
"I have been talking to people over the years and they keep telling me that things keep changing in this format, so I need to keep believing. I've always heard from everyone and also watched games in this format where strange things have happened.
"Today, I was fortunate to play a big role in something special. I was bowling a bit too short earlier, later worked on it consciously after getting a lot of feedback."
Rajasthan's captain Sanju Samson said the equations may have been against them but they kept believing and that's why he kept the overs of Mustafizur and Tyagi for the last two overs.
"It's funny that we kept believing (that we could win). I kept the overs of Mustafizur and Tyagi for the end, believing. Cricket is a funny game right. We just kept fighting and believing."
"I always believe in my bowlers, want to keep fighting and that's why I kept those two overs till the end. To be very honest, to get that score on this wicket, we felt good because we had the bowling. If we took the catches, we could have won the game earlier. People have really worked hard on their fitness," he added in the post-match presentation.
Rajasthan are currently at the number 5 spot on the points table with 4 wins in 8 matches. Mumbai Indians, who are ahead of him, have an equal number of wins 8 matches but with a better net run-rate.
(With ANI Inputs)
