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On the back of their talented duo, Captain Sanju Samson and middle-order batter Riyan Parag, Rajasthan Royals opened their campaign with a 20 run win over the Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur on Sunday, March 24, 2024.
The Rajasthan batters' show was equally matched by LSG's Captain K L Rahul and hard-hitting Vice-Captain Nicholas Pooran. The pair brought the team to the doorstep of victory before Sandeep Sharma intervened to see the back of Rahul.
The best batters in the LSG-RR encounter:
Sanju Samson
Reams have been written about the Talented Mr Samson and he has always made true those words. He is not a slogger, but one who plays beautiful cricket shots and makes them count.
When the Royals found themselves in a slight spot at 49 for 2 in 5 overs, Samson played with a calm head. He began his innings with a couple of singles before he launched into Mohsin Khan and hammered him for a couple of fours.
After Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed, he kept the scoreboard ticking and hammered the bad balls. Yash Thakur and Ravi Bishnoi came in for some Sanju treatment as he got to his 50 off 33 balls. He became the third batter along with team-mate Jos Buttler and Chennai Super Kings' Ajinkya Rahane to score 23 half-tons in the IPL -- the most fifties in the franchise.
In the death overs he didn't receive much strike and was happy to tuck the ball around and wait for the bad balls. In the final over he hit a six over deep cover to help Rajasthan post an above par 193 for 4. His 82 not out came in 52 balls, with three fours and six sixes, at a strike rate of over 157.
Since 2020, for the last five seasons, Samson has hit a fifty in the first match of the tournament. On Sunday, Samson batted like a leader, not giving up after getting a start and it augurs well for the Royals going forward.
Riyan Parag
Parag carried his domestic form into the IPL to start off with a purposeful and quick 43 off 29 balls.
He attacked from the get go and batting at his favourite No. 4 spot meant he was assured and ready for the kill.
Parag started with singles, then clobbered Yash Thakur for a six in the 9th over. He was happy to take the singles but took down the bowler when a poor ball came his way.
While Samson went finding the boundaries, Parag was happy to hand the strike to his captain. His innings was brought to a halt by Naveen-ul-Haq, but not before the bowler was inflicted with a few bruises on his ego.
Parag scored over 370 runs in four in Ranji Trophy matches and also took Assam to the semifinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 competition, ending the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 510 runs at an average of 85, with seven half-centuries. He also took 11 wickets.
All these are happy indications for Parag who is comfortable batting at No. 4 as against coming down the order.
K L Rahul
After a forced break from IPL 2023 due to a hamstring injury, Rahul returned to the tournament and how!
And what a rollicking start he's had in the opening match, hitting 58 runs off 44 balls.
He played some good shots and played the bowlers to merit. His knock provided LSG the stability they needed after losing three early wickets. He put an 85-run stand with Nicholas Pooran to keep LSG on track for victory but it was not to be.
Rahul's form is a good sign for him and the LSG think-tank who will look at making the play-offs again this year.
Nicholas Pooran
Nicky P has in the past failed to do justice to his talent, throwing his wicket more often than not. But he was not having any of it on Sunday. Along with Rahul he played the bowlers on merit. He hit a 41-ball 64 but it was not enough to see his team home.
He was lethal against Trent Boult, whom he clobbered for 20 runs in the 13th over and repeated the treatment on Yuzvendra Chahal whom he hit for 11 runs in the 16th. He seemed to lose his sting after Rahul's wicket and even though he gets a boundary off Sandeep Sharma at the death, he was unable to carry the team to victory.
In form, Pooran can take on the best attack and this is another positive for LSG who have the cool Justin Langer this year as head coach, who knows a thing or two about guiding teams to titles.
LSG Vs RR: Who Played The Best Knock?