Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Rahul Dravid and Shane Watson were just some of the names headlining the IPL 2013 match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals.
However, a little kid from Kerala by the name of Sanju Samson grabbed all the attention with a brilliant half-century, leading the Royals to a four-wicket victory over RCB at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
RCB, after being put into bat by Dravid, made 171 for six from 20 overs, thanks to some early hitting from Gayle and a late blast from Vinay Kumar.
In reply, Samson, all of 18, was the main man making an impressive 41-ball 63, with Watson (41) chipping in with another crucial innings, as the Royals finished on 173 for six with one ball to spare.
RCB have now lost two games in a row, with Royals joining them on six wins having played a game less.
The chase was on course for the first two overs, with the Royals scoring 21 runs, before a wicket maiden from Ravi Rampaul in the third over brought things back. The West Indian fast bowler induced a top edge from Ajinkya Rahane off a quick bouncer, with RP Singh taking the catch at fine-leg.
The Royals decided to send Samson to the crease, giving him a free rein, and boy, oh boy did the plan work. The 18-year-old Kerala played a brilliant innings 63, giving the Royals a really good chance of reaching the target.
Rahul Dravid at the other end, after hitting a couple of boundaries, was cleaned up by Moises Henriques, which brought the man in from Shane Watson to the crease.
Watson and Samson put together the key partnership of the innings worth 68 in 7.4 overs, with the latter very much the aggressor. The teenager played quite a few impressive shots in his 41-ball stay, with the pick of them being a couple of brilliant sixes over extra cover off Murali Karthik.
After completing a well-deserved half-century, Samson (63, 41b, 7x4, 2x6) had to walk back to the pavilion, after top-edging one off Rampaul, with Karthik taking the catch.
Royals needed 52 runs off the final five overs at that stage, with the experienced Brad Hodge joining Watson in the middle.
Two overs and 22 runs later, the equation was 30 from the last 18 deliveries, with the two Aussies Watson and Hodge looking menacing. Hodge took Rampaul to the cleaners in the 18th over, with the Australian blasting a couple of straight sixes as the target was cut down to 13 from the last two overs.
Watson (41, 31b, 3x4, 1x6) was dismissed in the penultimate over but the Royals were still in control needing six off the last over. However, Hodge (32, 17b, 1x4, 2x6) was castled by Vinay, with the home side still needing five from the last four balls.
Owais Shah was then run out of the next ball, going for a second as RCB entertained hopes of a thrilling win. Stuart Binny though stood tall with a boundary in the fifth ball to take his team to a nail-biting victory.
Earlier, RCB just could not keep their foot on the pedal after Chris Gayle gave them a quick start, before some ridiculous hitting from R Vinay Kumar in the final over took them to a defendable score.
The big West Indian did not waste too much time to settle in, swatting aside Ajit Chandila in the first over for three consecutive boundaries, before the returning S Sreesanth bore the brunt in the third.
Gayle raced to 34 in just 14 balls (6x4, 1x6) as RCB looked on course for another huge innings - as long as Gaylestorm kept blowing in Jaipur of course.
Unfortunately, for RCB and the rest of the neutrals, Shane Watson ended Gayle's stay at the crease, finding the outside edge of the left-hander with Sanju Samson taking an easy catch behind the stumps.
Abhinav Mukund (19, 21b, 1x4) was a mere spectator at the other end, and the Tamil Nadu man did not last too long either, chopping on a delivery from Siddharth Trivedi.
Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers -- two of the other big three of RCB -- needed to carry forward the momentum, and for a couple of overs it looked like the latter would pick up from where Gayle had left off.
Chandila was the man targeted again, as De Villiers smashed the off-spinner for a couple of boundaries, with Kohli also chipping in, taking RCB to a run short of a hundred after 12 overs.
Sreesanth picked up the vital wicket of De Villiers (21, 13b, 3x4), though, a couple of deliveries after dropping him, as the enigmatic South African found James Faulkner at deep point.
Kohli (32, 35b, 3x4) was not his usual self on the day - maybe he was still worried about the way the Mumbai crowd had booed him - and it came as no surprise when he holed out to Faulkner at long-on off Watson (three for 22).
Moises Henriques (22, 19b, 2x4, 1x6) hit a couple of boundaries, but could not carry on and Royals seemed to have fought back well and restricted RCB to a score of around 150-160, when Vinay Kumar came out of the blue to propel the away side to 171, smashing three straight sixes off the last over from Faulkner, which yielded 22 runs.
