In the battle between two teams that competed in the last Indian Premier League final, the Rajasthan Royals came out on top after a three-wicket win over defending champions Gujarat Giants, on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Central to that win was the fierce hitting by Royals batter Shimron Hetmyer, the eventual player of the match. The 26-year-old scored an unbeaten 56 off 26 deliveries – including two boundaries and five sixes.
Hetmyer, Samson rescue Rajasthan Royals as they defeat Gujarat Titans by three wickets
Sanju Samson won the toss for the Royals and opted to bowl. The Royals did a decent job of restricting the Titans to a total of 177/7 at the end of their 20 overs. The run-chase, though, did not start off well with the Royals losing both their openers by the third over, with just four runs on the board.
The pressure kept mounting until Hetmyer came into bat at No 6 and got the chase back on track with captain Samson, who also scored a superb 60 off 32.
“I just really wanted to win against these guys, they beat us three times last year. It was kind of revenge really,” Hetmyer said after the match.
The left-hander from Guyana breezed through what was a tough situation to come to bat into, but later revealed that this is the type of occasion he trains for. He has been consistently impressive lower down the order for RR, with one of the best finishing strike rates going around.
“I just practice it, really. It always helps to practice going in with that mindset, thinking that you’re a couple of wickets down and you have to get a 100 runs, probably, in eight overs,” he added.
“I just try to program my mind that way, and so far it’s been working.”
Samson later lightly added that: “I don’t think (Hetmyer) likes easy situations. He’s always loving these kind of (tough) situations and we’re always happy to put him in those situations, we don’t mind if he wins us the game.”
Eventually, the Royals got over the line with four balls to spare.
The win now takes the Royals at the top of the IPL standings with four wins and one loss from their five matches. They next play Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur on April 19.
