Samson towers over RCB star cast

APD NEWS

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For the first half of Royal Challengers Bangalore's chase, the thunderous Chinnaswamy crowd stayed on its feet, furiously waved the green-and-black flags and put its vocal chords through a lot of strain. And why not? Virat Kohli had just decided to put his hand up in a big chase, and had a couple of his top-order bigwigs joining in the fun. With 218 to get on a pitch that appeared to have eased out in the second innings, there was room for some batting muscle to be flexed. Kohli and Quinton de Kock took the cue and gave Rajasthan Royals bowlers a serious pounding in the powerplay overs.

De Kock would soon succumb to a D'Arcy Short delivery - becoming the second batsman to fall to a half-tracker. His exit though piqued the interest levels, for it triggered a scenario that the chase was begging for - the coming together of RCB's #17 and #18. And AB was in the mood too - he had to be. He watched Kohli get to a 26-ball half-century - his fastest in T20s - and set about getting one for himself. RCB got to the psychological barrier of 100 by the end of 10th over, and set themselves a stage for a familiar Kohli-AB mania in green. But then came another innocuous delivery - pitched half-way down - from Shreyas Gopal that took the wind out of RCB's sails.


The first of Sanju Samson's 10 sixes was a thing of beauty. Kulwant Khejroliya's attempt to intimidate with bounce was sighted early and sent soaring over the square fence with a swivel-and-pull. It was just an early demo of how much time the 23-year-old youngster really had while playing his shots. Washington Sundar would watch his dart fired at over 100 kmph fly past the long on fence shortly. In a format of really small margins, RCB managed to tie down Samson for 13 deliveries after his second six, but that's where his perennial 'talent' met his admirable game sense and pushed RR forward. Kohli used a football reference term, akin to not losing composure after an opposition went one-up on you, for what Samson pulled off during that brief lean phase.

"He got off to a good start and then our bowlers bowled well, but then he kept his shape. He kept hanging in there," Kohli said. From 18 off 12, the next seven balls didn't fetch Samson a single four or six, but he constantly managed to find empty spaces in the field through cover and mid-wicket to keep picking singles and twos. He'd run his way to 25 off 19 before the third big hit came along - off a Pawan Negi freebie. The adrenaline must've revved up heading towards the end of the innings, but Samson was still being very calculative. Yuzvendra Chahal was spitting fire by the time he'd arrived to bowl his final over, and was dealt with, with a lot of calm. Three singles and a wide off the six balls, which were eventually overcompensated for.

The 15-odd minutes following the strategic timeout was absolute mayhem - the result of Samson 'hanging in there'.

Umesh and Woakes paid the price for not learning early that anything in the slot for Samson to play square of the wicket will invariably find itself in the stands there. Yet, it was against Khejroliya that Samson's exceptional clean hitting would come through. The left-armer did little wrong with two full and fast deliveries, but Samson turned to his gift of time once again and caressed them for two big straight sixes. By the time the first four of his innings came about - an uppish drive over cover - Samson already had eight sixes to his name - an IPL record.

Umesh's Friday night excellence felt like such a distant success now, as he was torn to shreds in the final over - going for 27 that included more exhibition of delightful and slog-free stroke-play. After showing a bit of restraint early on and moving along to 34 off 25 by the end of the 15th over, Samson ended his innings with an unbeaten 92 off 45 - scoring 58 off the 75 runs that came in the last 30.

"Brilliant [innings]. He's a really talented player. We've seen over the years he's always done well in the IPL. He's got really good, simple game. He's quite strong at the crease, very balanced. Eventually in the end, he was watching the ball well and striking really well. Credit to him, he played a really good innings," said Kohli, verbally doffing his hat at the star who eclipsed an entire line-up of a T20 powerhouse.


Kohli cursed himself on his way out after finding D'Arcy Short at deep midwicket for a 30-ball 57, giving Gopal a moment to cherish. And there was another, when AB followed suit, adding his footnote to the tale of 'how not to deal with a loosener' - once again from Gopal. Mandeep Singh and Washington Sundar kept the crowd interested, but couldn't do enough to nullify what is easily the knock of the season so far.

These are the sort of days when the decision-makers at Rajasthan Royals can pat each other on the back and raise a toast. Because, on one fine January afternoon, they had sparred furiously with their Mumbai Indians counterparts in a 41-bid tussle, went the furthest, and still emerged richer.

(CRICBUZZ)