Rajasthan Royals’ Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, praised skipper Sanju Samson’s (119 off 63 balls, 12x4, 7x6) decision to refuse a run and retain the strike with five runs needed to win off the last ball against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.

RR eventually lost by four runs as Samson was caught in the deep off the final delivery with the team finishing on 217-7, failing to chase Punjab Kings’ 221-6. 
“Sanju backed himself to get the job done and nearly did it. He was five or six yards short of hitting the last ball for a six and sometimes when you know you’re hitting the ball well and you’re in form and you believe that you can do it, you’ve got to take that responsibility. And it was really encouraging to see Sanju do that,” Sangakkara said at the post-match virtual press conference on Monday night.