Sanju Samson smashed 82 runs off 52 balls with 3 fours and 6 sixes to guide Rajasthan Royals to 193/4 against Lucknow Supergiants in IPL 2024.
Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bat first against Lucknow Supergiants on Sunday. Talented batsman Devdutt Padikkal who joined LSG via a swap trade deal with RR, received his maiden cap.
Buttler, Jaiswal depart early
During the powerplay, Rajasthan Royals’ star openers Yashasi Jaiswal (24) and Jos Buttler (11) got out cheaply and captain Sanju Samson was left to reconstruct the innings. After hitting two boundaries off Naveen-ul-Haq, Jos Buttler was dismissed for 11 trying to play a drive but the ball found the thick edge of the bat and went right up to wicketkeeper KL Rahul who grabbed it easily. Mohsin Khan dismissed Jaiswal for 24 after the latter mistimed a pull that went up in the air and landed into the hands of Krunal Pandya.
Samson-Parag launched the counter attack
Despite losing two wickets at an early stage, Rajasthan Royals regained the momentum thanks to the duo of Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag. Both smashed Yash Thakur for 21 runs in one over which included one six from Parag and two sixes from Samson. The partnership proved to be fruitful for Rajasthan.
Sanju Samson took a quick single off Ravi Bishnoi and brought up his 21st half-century in the IPL in just 33 balls. Ryan Parag was dismissed after playing a fine hand of 43 off 29 balls. Naveen bowled a short one which Parag smashed straight back over his head for a six and the bowler followed it up with another one but took the pace off it and the ball went up in the air for square-leg on the boundary to take a simple catch. It was a much needed wicket for LSG at the time.
Samson’s Final Flourish
After the wicket of Riyan Parag, Ravi Bishnoi found the outside edge of Hetmyer’s bat and the umpire signalled it as out. Hetmyer reviewed the decision but the umpire confirmed there was an edge dge. RR were left at 150/4 after 16.3 overs. However, there was no stopping Sanju Samson.
Samson kept on hitting boundaries and along with Dhruv Jurel took Rajasthan to 193/4 in 20 overs.
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Devdutt Padikkal, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal
