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No one expected us to win against Kings XI Punjab: Jofra Archer after Rajasthan Royals complete highest run-chase in Indian Premier League history

Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Jofra Archer has expressed his happiness after his side completed an epic comeback victory as they defeated Kings XI Punjab by 4 wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday (September 27).

Chasing 224, Rajasthan reached the target with three balls to spare and completed the highest successful run-chase in IPL history.

In a video posted on the official Twitter handle of Rajasthan Royals, Archer said:

“Very satisfied. It was hard to believe that we would win the match against Kings XI Punjab and have some points. We were a bit slow but very glad to get over the line. The plan was just to see the ball and hit it.”

Earlier, Mayank Agarwal’s ton had powered KXIP to 223/2. Chasing the mammoth total, Rajasthan Royals lost Jos Buttler early. But then, Sanju Samson and skipper Steve Smith took the KXIP bowlers to the cleaners and were on par with the required run-rate. Smith was dismissed in the ninth over and then, in a surprising move, Rahul Tewatia was sent as a pinch-hitter ahead of Robin Uthappa.

With 124 needed from 66 balls, Tewatia completely failed to get going initially. He failed to connect and at one stage he was batting at a miserly 7 off 16 balls. But in a heroic turnaround for Tewatia, he hit Windies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in the 18th over to turn the game on it’s head. With 21 needed from the final two overs, Tewatia hit another six – completing his fifty while Archer hit another two of Shami which was enough to take the Royals over the line.

“It was very crazy, Tewatia started to strike the ball very cleanly in the over of Cottrell and that is probably the match-winning over for me. I bet no one expected us to win especially when we got to over 15. I am glad we proved everyone wrong,” he added.

The match is sure etch it’s name in the history books as one of the most memorable games in the IPL.

Source: Zee News