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On Sunday, March 24, Rajasthan Royals defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 20 runs to register their first win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. At the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, Sanju Samson, the captain of Rajasthan Royals, was the star of the show, scoring an unbeaten 82, to play a key role in their victory.
After winning the toss, Sanju Samson, the captain of Rajasthan Royals, decided to bat first in the afternoon sun of Jaipur. Jos Buttler smashed a couple of boundaries in the early stages of his innings before Naveen-ul-Haq took his wicket to put Lucknow Super Giants on the board.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was also dismissed in the powerplay stage, but he had scored 24 off just 12 balls, to provide much needed impetus to RR’s innings. After his wicket fell, Riyan Parag joined Sanju Samson at the crease, stitching together a 93-run stand for the third wicket on a tricky pitch at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Riyan Parag got a valuable 43 off 29 balls with one four and three sixes after getting promoted in the Rajasthan Royals batting lineup. Ultimately, it was Sanju Samson, who stayed unbeaten throughout the innings for RR, scoring 82 off 52 with three fours and six maximums, to propel them to an above par total of 193/4.
In the run chase, Lucknow Super Giants lost three quicks of Quinton de Kock, Devdutt Padikkal, and Ayush Badoni, in the powerplay, to find themselves in real trouble, with Trent Boult in the midst of a good spell. But then, Deepak Hooda provided some impetus to their innings before KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran shared an 85-run stand for the fifth wicket, to bring LSG firmly back into the mix.
On the first ball after the strategic timeout, Sandeep Sharma picked up the massive wicket of KL Rahul, who held the LSG innings together with his 58 off 44. Following this, the responsibility of taking the team home lay on Nicholas Pooran, who tried his level best against the RR bowlers, but the pressure of the required run rate proved too much for him.
Nicholas Pooran stayed not out on 64 off 41, but LSG’s innings came to a close at 173/6 after the completion of their allotted overs, 20 runs shy of the target.
