Chris Morris showed his utility and put on a great exhibition of hitting in the final overs as Rajasthan Royals won against Delhi Capitals.
Follow Us
Before IPL 2021 began, Chris Morris was in the news in a big way. Rajasthan Royals took him for Rs 16.25 crore, which became the highest for a player in the history of the IPL auction. When Jofra Archer was going to miss the start of the IPL, Morris’ value increased. The first game was perplexing for Morris. He went for many runs. When he came onto bat, Rajasthan Royals were staring at defeat.
Sanju Samson hit a century and the equation was five runs off two balls. In that moment, the ultimate misjudgment took place. Samson did not take a single. The Rajasthan Royals skipper assumed that it was Chris Martin on strike and not Morris. The decision to not take the single perplexed Morris. Belatedly, he would later say that he was not striking the ball well.
Heading into the game against Delhi Capitals, the situation was similar. Rajasthan Royals were staring at defeat despite David Miller’s brilliant fifty. They needed 34 off 18 balls. Morris was struggling to time the ball well, managing seven off eight balls. But, in the 19th over, the game changed.
Morris blasted two sixes in the 19th over bowled by his South Africa compatriot Kagiso Rabada. One of the sixes went a long way over fine leg. The equation boiled down to 12 runs off the last over. Tom Curran missed his length and Morris blasted two more sixes to seal the game.
Jaydev Unadkat, the Man of the Match for his haul of 3/15 and who was the non-striker, said it was a question of one big hit. “We just wanted to go after it. He could not middle a few balls. It was a question of one hit. It was amazing hitting by Morris. The sixes hit off Rabada were sensational,” Unadkat said.
The display by Morris showed two things. One, it was just a question of hanging in. Second, it was a matter of confidence. Had Samson showed the faith in Morris for just one ball, the result might have been different for Rajasthan Royals. It might have gone either way. Butm you do not pay Rs 16.25 crore to just deny a single in a crunch game. Second, the one big hit gave him tremendous confidence to finish things off.
Before the start of the Delhi Capitals game, Rajasthan Royals had uploaded a video on Instagram which showed Morris saying, “Sambhal lenge.” It means we will handle it. Against Delhi Capitals, Morris did handle it.
Rishabh Pant's explosive last-over blitz ignites IPL 2024 amid T20 World Cup comeback talks
