Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals (RR) went head-to-head with KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 44th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Saturday, April 27, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
Bowling first in the match, RR restricted LSG to 196/5 as Sandeep Sharma picked two wickets while Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, and Ravichandran Ashwin got one wicket each. When it came to the run-chase, openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler provided a great start to the which was capitalized by Sanju Samson (71) and Dhruv Jurel (52) who batted magnificently to guide RR to a 7-wicket victory.
At the post-match presentation ceremony, Sanju Samson, who also won the Player of the Match award said that he is lucky to remain behind the wickets as it helps him to asses the track. Sanju Samson said:
“I am very lucky to be behind the wickets. There was some purchase with the new ball and then was a good wicket to bat on. The guys who came in and bowl one over in the power-play do an important job.”
Sanju Samson also made a massive revelation on the extremely successful season of Rajasthan Royals, saying that they have been planning a lot this year. Sanju Samson said:
“There has been a lot of planning behind the scenes. The start and the end of the innings was good. We gave away a few in the middle overs.”
Sanju Samson signed off by showering rich praise on Dhruv Jurel and he said that they will take it one match at a time. Sanju Samson said:
“Form is temporary in this format. We have seen Jurel in Tests. We believe in him. He has been batting one hour and two hours at times in the nets. We have been doing really well. We have been a little lucky as well. We need to keep the process right. At the team meetings, we talk about ticking the processes. One game at a time for us.”
Rajasthan Royals’ Current Position In IPL 2024 Standings
Before their match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the high-flying Rajasthan Royals (RR) were at the No.1 position on the Indian Premier League 2024 points table. They had seven victories and one defeat out of eight matches and were at the top with 14 points in their bag. After the conclusion of the match, Rajasthan Royals (RR) have retained the position.
In their previous match, the Sanju Samson & Co. had hammered the 5-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) by 9 wickets on April 22 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Bowling first in the match, the RR bowlers dominated with the new ball and left MI tottering at 3-20. However, Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera’s batting brilliance powered Mumbai Indians to 179/9. For RR, Sandeep Sharma returned with stupendous figures of 5/18. Trent Boult picked two wickets while Yuzvendra Chahal and Avesh Khan picked up one wicket each.
Chasing the target in the match, Yashasvi Jaiswal returned to his best and slammed a magnificent century to send a message to the selection committee for his T20 World Cup inclusion and his knock helped RR complete the run-chase in 18.4 overs.
