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Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May 22 beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by four wickets to advance to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Qualifier 2 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In the absence of Jos Buttler, RR chased down the target of 173 with six balls to spare. After the win, skipper Sanju Samson praised head coach Kumar Sangakkara and bowling coach Shane Bond for their contribution despite a losing streak before coming into the playoffs.
“What cricket and life has taught us is we will have some good and some really bad phases. But we need to have the character to bounce back. Really happy with the way we fielded, we batted and we bowled today. Credit to the bowlers, they are always looking at what the opposition batters would do and what fields to set. Credit goes to Sanga and bowling coach Bond as well. They've spent a lot of time in hotel rooms discussing these things,” Samson said in the post-match presentation.
Samson revealed that he is not at 100 per cent and several players were under the weather going to the eliminator.
“With very little experience, the way they are performing at this level is amazing. (On his health) I'm not a 100% actually. There is a bug in the dressing room, lots of coughs and a lot of people are a bit unwell,” Samson added.
In the run chase, Samson scored 17 runs from 13 balls. He got stumped in the 10th over bowled by Karn Sharma. But crucial contributions from Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell helped RR get over the line.
Ravichandran Ashwin who won the 'Player of the match' for his economical spell including two crucial strikes revealed that he has been battling an injury as well.
“In the first half, I felt my body wasn't moving too well for the first half of the season. I had an abdomen injury as well. I am aging as well. To come into the tournament from Test cricket was difficult, I needed some time to get that bowling rhytmn. But once you have committed to your franchise, you want to go through with the season,” Ashwin said.
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