Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals produced yet another thriller of a game in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday. After being asked to bat first, RR first posted 175/8 in their 20 overs before restricting CSK down to 172. Sandeep Sharma held his nerve brilliantly in the last over as he denied CSK with the master finisher MS Dhoni out in the middle a win.
In the end, the equation had come down to 5 needed off 1 ball with Dhoni on strike. However, Sharma delivered a ball at the blockhole to deny Dhoni any chance to get underneath the ball and ensured that the inuagural champions come out on top. While the effort was much-appreciated by his teammates, his newborn daughter back at home also enjoyed his performance in the last over.
The video of his daughter was retweeted by the bowler.
Take a look:
Overall, Sharma finished with figures of 1/30 from his 3 overs. However, it was Ravichandran Ashwin who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his all-round performance in the match. Coming in to bat at number 5, Ashwin scored 30 off 22 balls before picking 2 wickets for 25 runs in his 4 overs.
"I surprise people I guess. Whenever I walk out to bat, people assume I just took that decision and came out, but that's a role given to me, we lost Sanju and I had to do a job. I am far better at judging my strengths, I take a few balls to get going," Ashwin said after the match.
"Every batting innings, I am padded up from the start. It's not an easy thing but it is good. I came off with good Test form. I feel I am able to get good grip and drop on the ball at the right lengths. If I was not able to do those things in the two years (with Punjab Kings) then I wouldn't be able to do it here. Success or failure, it has to be on my own terms," he added.