Rajasthan Royals skipper Steve Smith was all smiles after his team pulled off a record chase to beat Kings XI Punjab by four wickets on Sunday, 27 September, in Sharjah.
Rahul Tewatia turned it around for himself and his team when he hit five sixes off the 18th over bowled by Sheldon Cottrell and Smith said that this exactly what the team sees the 27-year-old do in the nets all the time.
"That was some chase! Tewatia, that was some sort of display against Cottrell. We got an idea about the conditions here in the last game. It's a small ground, we always thought if we have wickets in the shed we always have a chance,” said Smith in the post-match presentation ceremony.
“What we have seen from Tewatia in the nets is what we saw in that Cottrell’s over. I told someone as along as he gets one, floodgates will open. He showed heart. He told me during the timeout we still believe (we can win).”Steve Smith
Tewatia was hardly able to get ball on bat before he went after Cottrell and RR were banking on Sanju Samson yet again. Samson scored his second consecutive half century and was dismissed on 85 off 42 balls.
"Sanju is striking the ball cleanly all over the ground. Taking pressure off everyone. We will have to adapt to the bigger grounds, but these shots would clear everywhere," said Smith.
Smith had chosen to bowl first despite winning the first match played at the same ground after batting first. His decision seamed to have backfired when Kings XI Punjab creamed 223/2 but Rajasthan's fireworks allowed them to get to 226/6 with three balls to spare.
"That was something else, wasn't it? Generally it gets wetter so I thought we were in with a chance at the halfway mark. A lot of sixes hit here. We gave ourselves the chance. Yeah, good to get over the line," he said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)