When it comes to making batting look easy, there are a very few players who are better at it than Sanju Samson. And the Rajasthan Royals skipper was at his brutal best at the MCA Stadium here on Tuesday, in his 100th game for the franchise.
Samson’s 27-ball fifty, batting at No.3, helped Royals to a challenging 210 for 6 after being put in to bat by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sunrisers Hyderabad were off to a rocky start, losing skipper Kane Williamson (2) in the second over and Rahul Tripathi (0) in the fourth over. Both fell to pacer Prasidh Krishna.
Trent Boult then removed the dangerous Nicolas Pooran for a duck. At the time of going to press, SRH were 36-4 after 10 overs.
After openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler gave Royals a fiery start (racing to 58 for no loss in the Powerplay), Samson walked in and took control of the proceedings. He was particularly severe against the Sunrisers spin duo of Washington Sundar and Abhishek Sharma. In all, Samson scored 26 runs off nine balls he faced from Sundar, and 14 off the five balls he faced from Sharma.
Samson’s 27-ball 55-run knock included three fours and five sixes—four of the five big hits coming against the spinners.
Devdutt Padikkal was the other major contributor for Royals. Coming in to bat in the ninth over, at No.4, Padikkal showed good adaptability.
Despite batting in an unusual position, Padikkal was able to find boundaries at regular intervals, with a lot of ease. His 29-ball 41-run knock included four fours and a couple of sixes. Samson and Padikkal’s 73-run third-wicket stand came off just 41 deliveries, and laid the foundation for a total in excess of 200. By the time they both were dismissed, at the start of the 17th over, the stage was perfectly set for the Royals’ designated finishers—Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag—to do their job with a lot of freedom.
Hetmyer smashed 33 runs off just 13 balls, with the help of two fours and three sixes, while Parag was dismissed off the last ball of the innings after scoring 12 runs from nine balls.
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