• Samson leads Rajasthan to victory

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    Sanju Samson led from the front as the Rajasthan Royals defeated the Lucknow Super Giants by 20 runs in their opening match of the IPL on Sunday.

    Captain Samson hammered an unbeaten 82 off 52 balls to steer the inaugural IPL champions to 193-4 after they elected to bat first in Jaipur.

    Rajasthan’s New Zealander quick Trent Boult then struck two early blows to rattle the Lucknow batting, which finished on 173-6 despite an unbeaten 64 by the West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran.

    Lucknow, who made the play-offs in the last two seasons since their debut alongside the Gujarat Titans in 2022, lost regular wickets – including that of Proteas opener Quinton de Kock for four – but skipper KL Rahul attempted to keep the chase on track in his 44-ball 58 despite his slow start.

    The left-handed Pooran then took charge and along with Rahul put on 85 runs for the fifth wicket but the asking rate kept climbing.

    Rahul fell to Sandeep Sharma after his fifty and Marcus Stoinis’s departure left Pooran with a lot in the final few overs.

    Proteas fast bowler Nandre Burger took his first IPL wicket, finishing with figures of 1-30 in three overs.

    Samson remained the hero as he took on the opposition attack and built key partnerships including a 93-run third-wicket stand with Riyan Parag, who made 43.

    Samson hit six sixes on a pitch with variable bounce where Lucknow bowlers took a beating except Krunal Pandya, who returned figures of 0-19.

    The Rajasthan innings witnessed a nearly 10-minute halt in the first over when a cable of the spidercam broke as technicians scurried to sort out the wires on the field.

    © Agence France-Presse

    Photo: BCCI

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    Simon Borchardt