Mullanpur (Rajasthan), India, April 6 (ANI): In a remarkable achievement on Saturday, Indian cricketer Sanju Samson surpassed the legendary Australian player Shane Warne, who passed away later, to secure the position of having the highest number of victories as captain for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.
Samson achieved this feat during his team's victory against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur.
This marked Samson's 32nd victory as the Rajasthan Royals' captain, surpassing Warne's total of 31 wins. Warne led the team from 2008 to 2011, securing 31 victories and suffering 24 losses during his tenure.
Currently, Samson has been at the helm of RR since 2021, achieving 32 victories, suffering 29 defeats, and experiencing one tie. Under his leadership, RR secured second place in 2022 against GT and made it to the playoffs in 2024.
Following their victory in the coin toss, PBKS chose to field initially. This decision paid off as Yashasvi Jaiswal’s solid knock of 67 runs from 45 deliveries (including three boundaries and five maximums), supported by Sanju Samson’s brisk 38 runs from 26 balls (featuring six fours), set up Rajasthan Royals well for scoring. Later innings from Riyan Parag, who scored an unbeaten 43 from just 25 balls (comprising three fours and three sixes), along with Shimron Hetmyer’s quickfire 20 runs from 12 balls (with two fours and one six), propelled RR to a competitive total of 205/4 after twenty overs.
The standout bowler for PBKS was Lockie Ferguson with 2/37. Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen took one wicket each respectively.
While chasing, PBKS found themselves at 43/4 due to Jofra Archer’s impressive performance of taking 3 wickets for just 25 runs. Nevertheless, a crucial partnership worth 88 runs between Nehal Wadhera (scoring 62 off 41 deliveries including five boundaries and three maximums) and Glenn Maxwell (contributing 30 off 21 balls featuring three fours and one six) provided PBKS with renewed optimism. Unfortunately, once both were dismissed, PBKS struggled to regain momentum and suffered without scoring those much-needed boundary hits. Ultimately, PBKS managed only 155/9 in their allotted twenty overs, largely owing to commendable bowling efforts from Sandeep Sharma (taking two wickets conceding 21 runs) and Maheesh Theekshana (also claiming two scalps giving away 26 runs). (ANI)