IPL 2020, CSK vs RR: Sanju Samson, Steve Smith outdo CSK in six-hitting spree as RR win by 16 runs

“If it’s in the arc, hit it out of the park. If it’s in the V, aim for the tree.” That is the David Miller motto of batting. Playing his first match for Rajasthan Royals (RR), Miller was run out without facing a ball. But Sanju Samson batted in Miller mode to boost an innings anchored by skipper Steve Smith before Jofra Archer ended it with a 30-run over to set Chennai Super Kings (CSK) a target that has never been chased in IPL history .

Ruturaj Gaikwad has recovered from Covid-19 but his dancing down the wrong road and being stumped first ball and Faf du Plessis being unable to score off a free hit typified how CSK were never in the game chasing 217. Du Plessis’s 72 (37b; 1x4; 7x6) was the candle-in-the-wind effort of a team that lost wickets in bunches before losing by 16 runs. MS Dhoni, known for pulling off improbable finishes, didn’t come out till the fifth wicket fell and opted for batting practice. By then, Samson had effected two stumpings and defied gravity to catch Sam Curran. And it was Samson who caught Du Plessis off Archer.

IPL 2020: CSK vs RR full highlights and scorecard

Samson was on course for his third IPL century after RR began sluggishly on a slow Sharjah wicket. He edged Sam Curran for a boundary and next ball, pulled him for a six. It was the first of nine he hit on Tuesday night, either by getting his front leg out of the way or with lofted drives. From 17/1 after three overs, RR cruised to 54/1 at the end of the Power Play.

Ravindra Jadeja was introduced, possibly because he has a good record against Smith who was opening the innings for the first time in a T20. The left-armer ran into Samson instead and was punished for giving the ball air. Piyush Chawla did the same and saw the white ball streaking across the night sky like a meteor. When Chawla dragged it wide, Samson hit a six over extra-cover before another sailed over the bowler. The innings’ eighth over yielded 28 runs; Chawla ending it with Smith smoking a six, off a free hit. To say CSK needed the strategic timeout after RR reached 96/1 off eight would be understating the obvious. RR had scored 70 runs in four overs; Samson getting 53 of them on way to his briskest IPL half-century in 19 balls.

Chawla couldn’t find his length even after resumption and Samson, who has scored 102 in the IPL in 2017 and 2019, continued an innings that had timing, power and panache. After ripping into Jadeja and Chawla, Samson fell after a 32-ball 74 that had only one four when Lungi Ngidi rolled his fingers and dropped it short. He and Smith added 121 runs.

Smith showed IPL13 that he is all right, the shuffle and crouch in place and the recent concussion a distant memory. His shot of the night would be the scoop off Ngidi even as he fell to the ground but it was the way he built his innings, staying till the 19th over that would give RR hope. Smith (69; 47b; 4x4; 6x4) got a reprieve on 52 when Sam Curran dropped him on the fence and conceded a six. No one stayed with Smith to rebuild the innings though Tom Curran --- the brothers were playing against each other for the first time --- was called back after being given out when the third umpire ruled that Dhoni had caught it on the bounce. Archer made up for that by getting under Ngidi’s deliveries with the kind of power new US Open golf champion Bryson deChambeu is famous for.