Sanju Samson scored a 19-ball fifty for Rajasthan Royals. (Source: IPL)Sanju Samson produced an absolute blitzkrieg in Sharjah against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as he raced to a 32-ball 74 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) after coming at one down on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman scored the joint second-fastest fifty for RR in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Both him and Owais Shah (vs RCB in 2012) have scored 19-ball fifties, and the pair is only bettered by Jos Buttler’s 18-ball half-century against Delhi Daredevils in 2019.
After CSK won the toss and chose to field first, Steve Smith and India’s U19 star Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the innings for RR. After the rookie’s dismissal in the third over, the Kerala big-hitter came on at number three.
Samson started slow but his batting show began in the fifth over when he smacked Sam Curran for 14 runs, hitting a four and a massive six in the process. Using his strong upper body, the right-hander went berserk clearing the ropes with ease.
To break the growing partnership between Smith and Samson, CSK captain MS Dhoni introduced his spinners, but Samson took them to the cleaners, especially the veteran Piyush Chawla.
In the eighth over, Samson scored a 19-ball fifty after hitting Chawla for 28 runs with the help of Smith. He continued to torment both Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja, before being dismissed by Lungi Ngidi in the 12th over when RR was 132/2.
Sanju Samson is not just the best wicketkeeper batsmen in India but the best young batsman in India!
Anyone up for debate?— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) September 22, 2020
50 from just 19. Such pure, clean, elegant hitting. I could watch Sanju Samson bat all day, every day.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 22, 2020
Watching Sanju Samson bat: very very special. Makes batting look crazily easy.. a shot maker in the Rohit Sharma class.. and that is saying a lot. Easily the best of the Gen next batsmen! Shoo in for a T 20 Indian team! #RRvCSK
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) September 22, 2020
Samson finished his innings with just a single four and a mammoth nine sixes. He rejuvenated Rajasthan’s innings after partnering with his captain for 121 runs for the second wicket.
With over 2,200 runs from 94 IPL matches, Samson is a vital cog in Rajasthan Royals’ batting line-up. From a rookie to being a leader within the group, Samson has scored in excess of 340 runs in each of the previous three editions.
Jofra Archer: 6, 6, 6, 6
Towards the latter half of RR’s innings, wickets kept tumbling at one end even as Steve Smith held forte. But the captain’s dismissal in the 19th over opened up another carnage – this time by Jofra Archer, four consecutive sixes and the Royals become the first team to cross the 200-run mark in this season’s tournament.
Jofra Archer 6, 6 ,6, 6🔥🔥🔥
Arachakam ra babu nuvvu #CSKvsRR pic.twitter.com/ku3yOiFbGD
— 🎭Yeswanth(యశ్వంత్) 💫 (@yeswanth86) September 22, 2020
RR scored 216/7 with Archer smashing 27 runs on 8 balls. In total, they recorded a whopping 17 sixes.
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