IPL 2024: Sanju Samson's familiar start, KL Rahul returns in style and more top moments from RR vs LSG

Rajasthan Royals got their IPL 2024 campaign off to a winning start after they defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 20 runs in Jaipur on Saturday. Sanju Samson played a captain’s knock for RR with an unbeaten 82 off 52 deliveries, and deservedly received the Player of the Match award.

It wasn’t the best of starts for RR after they opted to bat, as they lost Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal within the powerplay. Samson, however, stood firm and forged crucial partnerships with Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel as RR posted 193/4.

LSG too got off to a shaky start before KL Rahul (58) and Nicholas Pooran (64*) led their recovery but the skipper’s dismissal in the latter part of the chase would prove costly for Lucknow.

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We now take a look at some top moments from the RR vs LSG contest:

Sanju Samson off to a familiar start

Time and again, Sanju Samson has got his IPL campaigns off to productive starts with the bat and Sunday, the story was no different. Samson came into bat at number three as early as the second over, following the dismissal of Jos Buttler, and went onto amass an unbeaten 82 runs off 52 deliveries.

Samson was involved in a 93-run stand with Riyan Parag for the third wicket, and that changed the complexion of the game, swinging the pendulum in Rajasthan’s favour once again. And although Shimron Hetmyer’s (5) stint at the crease was short-lived, Samson the n forged an unbeaten 43-run stand with Dhruv Jurel to help RR post 193/4.

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Spider-cam failure halts play

Early on in the game after Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bat, there was a bizarre stoppage of play. After just two balls of the RR innings were bowled, there seemed to be an issue with the Spidercam. The Spidercam’s cable wire fell down onto the ground after just two balls into the match. There was a slight delay in play when this happened and after a short moment, the engineers made their way out into the ground to remove the wires.

Boult-Burger’s electric start

Rajasthan Royals got off to a dream start in Lucknow Super Giants’ run chase. LSG needed 194 runs to win, and they were under pressure to get off to an aggressive start.

However, that wasn’t to be as Trent Boult and Nandre Burger had other plans. Boult struck in the fifth ball of the very first over, removing Quinton de Kock, who was caught by Burger at long leg. And in the second ball of the third over, LSG suffered a double blow after Boult was at it again, this time cleaning up former RR player Devdutt Padikkal.

Nandre Burger’s dream moment then came in the fourth over, when he saw off Ayush Badoni, courtesy a catch by Buttler. Badoni was looking to drive but ended up edging to the England cricketer.

KL Rahul returns in style

KL Rahul, playing his first game since recovering from a quadriceps injury, returned in style after he scored a well-made 58 runs off 44 deliveries. There were questions regarding Rahul’s fitness leading upto the IPL after the veteran batter missed a majority of the Test series against England due to a quadriceps injury on his right side.

However, Rahul played a confident knock. The highlight of his innings was how he took on Nandre Burger aggressively — He hit the South Africa pacer fortwo fours and a six in the 11th over. Rahul got to his fifty off 35 deliveries, with a nudge towards long-on for a single. However, the script of the game changed once Rahul was dismissed by Sandeep Sharma courtesy a catch by Jurel at deep point. Nevertheless, it was a fine knock from the Karnataka cricketer.

Sandeep Sharma shines in the death overs

Sandeep Sharma’s role with the ball proved to be decisive in the death overs. LSG were still in the game with a chance at 60 runs needed from 30 deliveries, but Sandeep was effective with his bouncers and variations of his deliveries. Add to the fact that he gave away just three boundaries during the slog overs, and even got the crucial wicket of KL Rahul, that eventually set the tone for RR’s victory.