Abdul Samad justified his retention by Sunrisers Hyderabad with a magnificent match-winning six off the last ball in the IPL 2023 match against the Rajasthan Royals.
SRH retained Samad ahead of the IPL Auction 2022. But the uncapped all-rounder could not impress much in the matches he got to play for the Orange Army since the start of the 2022 season. Samad's disappointing form continued in 2023 as well.
Last night in Jaipur, Samad was batting on 0* when Sandeep Sharma came in to bowl the 20th over. SRH needed 17 runs off the last six balls. Samad tried a big shot on the first ball but could not time it to perfection. The ball went towards the third-man region, where Obed McCoy dropped a tough catch.
Abdul Samad whacked a six on the next ball bowled by Sandeep. Samad and Marco Jansen ran four runs off the next three balls, bringing the equation down to five runs from one delivery.
Since Sandeep had defended five runs off one ball against MS Dhoni earlier this season, he was expected to do the job once again for RR. He bowled a full-toss outside-off, and Abdul Samad handed a catch to the long-off fielder Jos Buttler.
Rajasthan Royals players and fans started to celebrate their four-run win, but a few moments later, the no-ball siren echoed at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. The players returned to their positions.
Sandeep Sharma had to defend four off the last ball. It was a free-hit for Samad. The RR pacer bowled a full delivery, and Samad smashed it hard down the ground for a six. You can watch the video of the winning shot and celebrations here:
SRH kept themselves alive in IPL 2023 with this win. They moved up from 10th to ninth position in the standings.
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