IPL: Samson, Boult star as Royals overpower Super Giants

Sanju Samson led from the front with an unbeaten 82 from 52 balls as Rajasthan Royals opened their IPL campaign with a hard-earned 20-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur.

After winning the toss for his team, Samson’s knock was the mainstay of Royals’ imposing 193 for 4, and a tight contest hadn’t seemed remotely likely when Trent Boult and Nandre Burger reduced LSG to 11 for 3 in the first four overs of their reply.

However, KL Rahul – on his return from injury – teamed up with Nicholas Pooran to take the chase deep in a fifth-wicket stand of 85 from 52 balls that ended from the first ball of the 17th over, as Sandeep Sharma popped up with a priceless spell of death bowling that left LSG with too much to do.

With 38 still needed from 12 balls, Sandeep’s penultimate over was arguably even more important, as he limited the hard-swinging Pooran to just a brace of boundaries in an 11-run over, allowing Avesh Khan to close out the contest with ease. Pooran finished unbeaten on 64 from 41 balls. (ESPNcricinfo)