Rahul Tewatia lightened up Rajasthan Royals’ run-chase with his majestic batting against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 26th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 on Sunday. In pursuit of 159-run target, RR went through a massive top-order collapse. They were reduced to 78 for 5 when Tewatia (45*) and Riyan Parag (42*) came to rescue the team and put on 85 runs to complete the chase with one ball to spare in Dubai.
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Tewatia repeated the performance he showcased in Sharjah. This time, it was Rashid Khan who faced the blow. In the 18th over, Tewatia struck three consecutive boundaries against the Afghan leggie, guiding RR closer to victory.
Later, in the post-match presentation, the all-rounder revealed how he planned to go after Rashid Khan in the death overs.
“The wickets were falling so I just wanted to hold one end up and wait for the boundary balls. I knew if I keep my self-belief and take it deep, I could pull it off.Against Rashid, I saw the opportunity to play the reverse sweep and took it,” said Tewatia in the post-match presentation.
When asked about the heated conversation with Khaleel Ahmed, Tewatia replied, “No big deal, we just got taken away in the heat of the moment.”
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Riyan Parag played a terrific cameo and ended the game with a huge maximum over over extra cover. He explained how along with Tewatia, he chalked out the plan to tackle Rashid Khan.
“When Rahul bhaiyya came to bat, the motto was to take it deep. Even Rashid had one (over left) so we calculated how to take on him and it worked well. I think when I went into bat after a few balls, I had a clear mind that I wanted to go after 16 overs. I think we just wanted to target the fast bowlers because the wicket was two-paced” said Riyan after RR won the game by 5 wickets.
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This win over SRH has broken the four-match losing streak of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2020. They will next play against Chennai Super Kings on October 13th in Dubai.
Source: IPLT20.com