Rajasthan Royals (RR) suffered a heartbreaking four-wicket defeat at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 52 of IPL 2023 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Sunday (May 7).
It was a high-scoring affair and the match went down to the wire. With five needed off the last ball, Jos Buttler grabbed a catch of Abdul Samad off the bowling of Sandeep Sharma and RR players started celebrating. However, the happiness was short-lived as the umpire signalled no-ball.
Making the most of the free hit, Samad smashed Sandeep over his head for a flat six to seal the deal for SRH.
After the game, Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson admitted that the no-ball "ruined" RR's result but acknowledged that SRH batted "sensibly".
"This is what IPL gives you, matches like these makes the IPL special. You can never, never, never feel like you have won the game. I knew any opponent can win it and they were batting well too, but I was confident with Sandeep (for defending in the final over). He has won us a game from a similar situation (against CSK). He did it again today but that no-ball ruined our result,” Samson said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"We played really well with the bat to put up that kind of a score on this wicket, but I think they (SRH) batted really sensibly, credit has to go to them for the way they batted," he added.
When asked how he felt after the last ball was called a no-ball, Samson replied: "Nothing much, it's a no ball, just have to bowl it again as simple as that, you don't think about it too much. Sandeep knows what to do. Maybe there might be a small change in mindset for a few seconds when you feel that the job is done, everyone was celebrating but I think that's the nature of this game, you can't step the line at that point of time."
Earlier, the Royals racked up a mammoth 214/2 in their allotted 20 overs on the back of Jos Buttler’s 59-ball 95 and Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 66 off 38 balls.
When asked whether the hosts could have scored more, RR captain said: “That's a great question... I don't know.”
"With the target we posted, you can only feel happy once you win the game right, so not at all happy at the moment. To be honest, life is never easy playing this format, especially this tournament. Each and every game we have to play our best standard of cricket. We will come back and try to do it again," Samson concluded.
