Dube has established himself as one of the most destructive middle-order batters in the IPL, scoring 350 runs at a 170-plus strike rate
cricket7 hours ago
The message was loud and clear and it was perhaps a fitting response to Sanju Samson, Chris Morris’ new skipper at the Rajasthan Royals.
The Royals were behind the eight-ball for much of the game, chasing a target of 148 until David Miller had breathed some life into it. But once he was gone, becoming Avesh Khan’s third victim, it was still a tough task with Morris and Jaydev Unadakat at the crease and not much batting to come.
But with 27 runs required from the last two overs, Morris biffed four sixes — two each off the returning Kagiso Rabada and Tom Curran to take Rajasthan Royals over the line, by three wickets and two deliveries to spare.
The win saw the Royals notch their first win after agonisingly going down in a high-scoring first game against the Punjab Kings.
In fact, that night came to mind after Morris’ heroics of an unbeaten 36 from 18 balls, at the Wankhede on Thursday night. The Royals had needed five from two balls but Samson turned down the single and sent Morris back to the non-striker's end. Samson backed himself to pull it off after he had scored a century, his third in the IPL. And he almost did before being caught near the ropes.
“I don't have words to explain my feelings. I would have loved to finish it off for my team. I don't think I could have done better than that. I thought I timed it well for a six but somehow. It's part of the game,” Samson had said then.
But, on Thursday night, Morris said he didn’t bear any ill feelings towards Samson.
“I was going to 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,” said Morris, who had become the costliest buy in IPL history when the Royals bought him at $2.25 million at the IPL mini-auction in February.
Asked if he should bat up the order, Morris chuckled and replied: “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.”
james@khaleejtimes.com
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