Dubai: Sanju Samson starred with the bat as Rajasthan Royals (RR) posted a score of 164/5 in their allotted twenty overs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) here at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday.
For the Royals, Sanju Samson played an all-important inning of 82.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mahipal Lomror also played crucial innings of 36 and 29* respectively for the team in pink. Siddarth Kaul scalped two wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma and Rashid Khan returned with one wicket each for SRH.
Opting to bat first, RR had a shaky start after their star opener Evin Lewis walked back to the dressing room in the second over of the innings.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck on his first ball as Abdul Samad caught Lewis on the fence.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson then steadied the ship for the team in pink as the duo gathered 49 runs in the first powerplay. The pair continued with their carnage in the middle overs.
In the 9th over, Sandeep Sharma got the important breakthrough for SRH as he broke the dangerous-looking stand between Jaiswal and RR skipper. Jaiswal walked back to the pavilion after scoring 36 off 23 balls.
Rashid Khan struck in 11th over for SRH as he removed struggling Liam Livingstone. Abdul Samad caught Livingstone in the deep. Amid this, Sanju Samson continued mixing his caution with some delightful strokeplay. Royals skipper soon crossed the 50 run mark in the 16th over of the innings. RR gathered 20 runs in that over.
Siddarth Kaul removed Samson in the last over of the innings. Sanju Samson walked back for 82 off 57 balls. Riyan Parag also got out in that last over as SRH managed to finish on a high at the end of innings.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) innings ended on 164/5.
Brief Score:
Rajasthan Royals (Sanju Samson 82, Yashasvi Jaiswal 36; Siddarth Kaul 2-36, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-28) vs SunRisers Hyderabad.