Zampa grabs rare IPL chance to spin Royals to victory

Adam Zampa had done enough poolside lounging while twiddling his thumbs waiting for his IPL chance - and when the call came from Rajasthan Royals he was ready.

Australia's best one-day tweaker reminded the Royals on Thursday why they'd invested in him after he was called up as a late replacement for the injured Trent Boult and proceeded to spin them to a 32-run victory over Chennai Super Kings.

Zampa had only played two matches all season with the Royals seemingly doing well enough without him at the top of the table, and he'd snaffled just a couple of wickets.

"I have been playing cricket for a long time, you've got to be mentally ready and prepared for whoever you are playing against," explained the 31-year-old afterwards.

"Train a little bit, and enjoy the poolside …"

And when it came down to business, with Rajasthan protecting their excellent 5-202 powered largely by player-of-the-match Yashasvi Jaiswal's 77 off 43 balls, Zampa proved their key destroyer.

The leg spinner picked up three big wickets, giving up just 23 runs off his three decisive overs, and kicked off with the key dismissal of in-form New Zealand opener Devon Conway, caught at mid-off for just eight in his first over.

Ruturaj Gaikwad looked the key threat having hammered 47 off 29 balls, but Zampa beat him with flight and had him caught brilliantly by Devdutt Padikkal running in from long-on.

When he also got Moeen Ali caught behind from an under-edge in the 15th over, Chennai's hopes were effectively buried, as he worked in tandem with master Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2-35 off four) to restrict them to 6-170.

"To get a couple of wickets was a nice feeling," said Zampa, who reckoned he had learned from watching Chennai's Maheesh Theekshana, who'd looked impressive with his 1-24 when Rajasthan batted.

"I watched Theekshana bowling with a little bit of extra pace and a little bit shorter than usual. Hopefully, the ball skids on a bit and does its job."

He did his job expertly, helping ensure Rajasthan are now top of the table again on 10 points, ahead of Gujarat Titans and Chennai on net run-rate.