Captain Sanju Samson led from the front with an unbeaten 82 to steer former champions Rajasthan Royals to a confident 20-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in their IPL opener in Jaipur on Sunday. Samson hit six sixes and three fours in his 52-ball knock, which was packed with spectacular hits in all parts of the ground. His knock provided both momentum and stability for Royals after double blows in the Powerplay. With Riyan Parag (43) also playing his part well by forging an association of 93 runs for the third wicket to consolidate for their side, the Royals batting came out well in their opening game.
LSG fought through KL Rahul (58) and Nicholas Pooran (64 not out) after a disastrous start, but their valiant effort only reduced the margin of defeat as they chased down a huge target of 194.
LSG, who were reeling at 11/3, eventually finished at 173 for six.
Captain Rahul hit a fine fifty on his return to top-flight cricket, scoring 58 off 44 balls with four fours and two sixes. He also kept wickets for a full 20 overs to allay any doubts about his fitness following a quadriceps injury.
Not just Rahul but Pooran also took on the rival camp with a 41-ball 64, hitting four sixes and as many fours to make the game as deep as possible, but Rajasthan took the lead by two runs.
Lucknow got off to a poor start with Royals’ overseas left-arm duo, Trent Boult (2/35) and debutant Nandre Burger (1/30), acting as impact subs and causing the damage.
On an innocuous delivery that wandered wide down leg stump, Quinton de Kock tried to clear Boult’s ropes but he cut straight at Burger, positioned for exactly the same shot for an easy grab.
In his next over, Boult hit Devdutt Padikkal (0) on the helmet with a short ball and caused the next one to slip and crash into the middle stump to knock it out of the ground.
Ayush Badoni (1) then played one straight against Jos Buttler at mid-on at Burger as LSG were left reeling at 11 for three in the first four overs.
Deepak Hooda came in as impact sub for LSG and led his side’s recovery, but a rising asking rate meant risks had to be taken.
The right-hander was killed while trying to clear the ropes against Yuzvendra Chahal for a 13-ball 26 studded with two sixes and as many fours, after putting on 49 for the fourth wicket with Rahul.
With their backs against the wall, Rahul led a robust recovery for LSG in the company of Pooran as the two batters raised hopes of a win with an 85-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Neither Rahul nor Pooran took any unwanted risks despite the asking price hovering around 12 runs per over, choosing their bowlers to attack.
In the 11th over, Rahul chased Burger to score 17 runs with a six and two fours off the last three balls and in the 13th, Pooran hit two sixes and a four off Boult to collect 13 runs.
But Sandeep Sharma (1/22) shocked LSG’s chase with Rahul’s key wicket, getting him caught by Dhruv Jurel at sweeper cover and Ashwin sent back the dangerous Marcus Stoinis (3) only to have him caught by Dhruv Jurel at deep midwicket, leaving them behind. with 38 runs to be had from the last two overs.
The fate of the match was decided in the penultimate as Sandeep gave away just 11 runs even as Riyan Parag spilled a difficult chance to get rid of Pooran.
Earlier in the first half, Sanju Samson made another fiery start to his IPL campaign with a combative 82 not out as Rajasthan Royals posted a competitive 193 for four.
If Samson appeared in his usual element, playing strokes that made him a convincing watch, Parag looked calm in his approach and took every opportunity that came his way.
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