IPL 2018: Andrew Tye dedicates the four-wicket haul to his late grandmother

The reverse fixture between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) is currently in progress at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The hosts won the toss and opted to bat first as they had anticipated the pitch to get slower which is what exactly happened. Jos Buttler got them off to a flyer and threatened to take the game away from Punjab but Andrew Tye bowled beautifully and scalped 4 wickets to grab the purple cap. However, he was kissing a black armband after picking every wicket and revealed the reason for the same in the mid-innings interview.

While Tye was always crucial to his season throughout this season, he looked determined to do well this time around. He bowled in the powerplay first up and scalped the skipper of the home side cheaply when Buttler was going bonkers at the other end. He varied his pace extremely well at the death and kept the batsmen on their toes throughout. Moreover, he went on to take three wickets in the final over and restricted the Royals to a below par total of 159 runs.

Tye reveals the reason

Andrew Tye became the highest wicket-taker of the tournament after his tripe-wicket over and now has 16 wickets to his name at an economy of less than 8. He got emotional when he was asked about kissing the armband every time after picking a wicket. He cleared that his grandmother had passed away today and dedicated the cap to her and his family also showing that the armband had written ‘Grandma’ over it. He also credited his teammates for standing by him during his tough times and thanked them.

“I try not to be too predictable. My Grandma passed away today, so I’d like to dedicate this performance to her and all my family. This has been an emotional match for me. It was a pretty tough day, I always love playing cricket. We are a great bunch of guys here. Batsmen are allowed to play good shots, sometimes batsmen hit best balls for six but sometimes they play rash shots too. Pitch is bit slow and low, I think new ball will be crucial for us. I am backing my boys to get to this total,” Tye said while having tears in his eyes in the mid-match interview.

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