David Miller, Rajasthan Royals (RR) batsman said that it was a tactical decision behind him batting at number six position after his team registered a comprehensive six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.
Sanju Samson and David Miller played unbeaten knocks of 42 and 24 respectively as Rajasthan Royals defeated KKR by six wickets with seven balls to spare on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube also chipped in with 22 runs each to guide Rajasthan to a comfortable victory.
David Miller: Since Rahul Tewatia Is A Local And Plays Spin Well He Was Promoted
South African batsman David Miller was bought by Rajasthan Royals for INR 75 lakh during the IPL Players Auction ahead of IPL 2020 and despite playing just one game in the IPL 2020, retained him for the IPL 2021. David Miller has scored 88 runs so far playing 4 matches out of 5 games averaging 29.33 with a highest of 62 in IPL 2021.
“The body gave in towards the back end, but it was nice to finish off the match well. Sanju batted extremely well, he actually did in the first game, showed what he got, was a good team performance, nice and clinical.
“In T20 cricket, everything happens rather fast, it was a tactical decision (batting down the order), and came off well tonight. The key is to finish off games, I will not mind batting anywhere, just want to help the team win,” David Miller told host broadcaster Star Sports.
“Tewatia is a local and he plays the spinners well, brings out the sweeps and reverse sweeps hence he batted ahead. We have a good bunch of guys and a great set-up, There was a lot of positive energy tonight, today was a big win and we’ll take confidence into the next game, hopefully, get onto a nice little run.
“Was a nice wicket although the cutters were holding up a bit, I couldn’t get bat on the ball at the start, it was good to finish it off,” he added.
Rahul Tewatia though managed to score only 5 off 8 balls as he had an off day since he went wicketless too. But the other players of RR setup delivered as RR won to be placed 6th in the points table with 2 wins and 3 losses from 5 games and thereby accumulating 4 points.
Chris Morris Picked 4 Scalps To Restrict KKR To A Paltry 133/9
Earlier, a spirited bowling performance helped Rajasthan Royals restrict KKR to 133/9 in the allotted twenty overs. For the Sanju Samson-led side, Chris Morris scalped four wickets. For KKR, Rahul Tripathi and Dinesh Karthik played knocks of 36 and 25 respectively.
Rajasthan Royals has now moved to sixth place in the points table with 4 points from 5 games. The side will next take on Mumbai Indians on Thursday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals was dealt with another blow after news came in that Jofra Archer who was the Most Valuable Player Of The Tournament in IPL 2020 will miss the entire IPL 2021 which is a cause of concern for the franchise. Rajasthan Royals finished last season at the bottom of the table with 12 points from their 14 matches.
The news comes in addition to the fact that the franchise is missing their X factor, all-rounder Ben Stokes who suffered a hand fracture and was ruled out after playing only 1 match. Liam Livingstone has also headed home for bubble fatigue, but Rajasthan won despite missing the England trio.
Chris Morris, the most expensive player in IPL’s history has so far scored 48 vital runs and taken 9 scalps averaging 24 and 18 respectively with the bat and ball. Chris Morris was sold to Rajasthan Royals for a whopping sum of INR 16.25 Cr & became the most expensive player bought in the IPL Auction history.