CHENNAI: Skipper Sanju Samson led from the front with a splendid half century as Rajasthan Royals beat Lucknow Super Giants in their first game of the 2024 IPL at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Saturday.
At a time when all eyes are on the keeper-batters in the league, Samson did not waste any time to make an impression. He came in at No. 3 and batted through the innings, smashing an unbeaten 82 runs from 52 balls as RR posted 193/4.
Samson's counterpart, KL Rahul, another comeback man, also scored a fifty, but it was not enough as LSG fell short by 20 runs
Defending 193, RR got off to a great start with Trent Boult and Nandre Burger ran through LSG top-order, sending Quinton de Kock, Devdutt Padikkal and Ayush Badoni back to the pavilion.
Joined by Deepak Hooda, Rahul began the rescue act for Lucknow. Hooda instantly went on the aggressive, picking up boundaries off the two left-arm pacers. When R Ashwin came on, Rahul welcomed him by sweeping the off-spinner into the stands.
Although Hooda got out, Rahul and Pooran kept the chase going. When he was on 26 from as many balls, Rahul went berserk hitting six and two fours Burger. Pooran, meanwhile, smashed 16 runs off Boult, putting LSG back on track. Rahul got to his half-century, and with 49 needed from four overs, LSG had a good chance. That is when Sandeep Sharma struck. After a quiet over earlier, he dismissed Rajhul for 58 off 44 balls.
Ashwin came back to dismiss Marcus Stoinis before Sandeep delivered yet another death over masterclass against Pooran, who had already crossed his fifty. Avesh Khan delivered a splendid final over as RR won by 20 runs.
Earlier, opting to bat first, RR lost Jos Buttler early. Picking up from where he left last season, Jaiswal went after Lucknow bowlers, and Samson joined the party as RR raced to 49/1. And that is when Mohsin Khan dismissed Jaiswal (24 off 12) against the run of play.
However, Riyan Parag, was promoted to No. 4 after a stellar domestic season, and Samson kept the innings going. They put pressure on LSG’s best bowler — Ravi Bishnoi — hitting him down the ground twice in one over. In his next over, Samson once again took the leg-spinner on getting to his 21st IPL half century. Such was the aggression from RR that Rahul had to bring back Naveen-ul-Haq sooner than he would have liked. While Parag hit him for a four and six, Naveen had the last laugh as he got rid of the youngster with a short-pitched delivery for 43 runs.
Shimron Hetmyer did not do much, but Dhruv Jurel and Samson kept going after the bowlers. Naveen-ul-Haq tried his best to keep things under control, but Samson and Jurel hit Mohsin for 14 runs, taking RR to 193/4.
Brief scores RR 193/4 in 20 ovs (Samson 82 n.o) bt LSG 173/6 in 20 ovs (Pooran 64 n.o, Rahul 58, Boult 2/35).