After an early jolt
handed by Chennai Super Kings with Deepak Chahar cheaply removing debutant
Yashashvi Jaiswal (6 runs), Rajasthan Royals have built themselves a strong
foundation for a big target and all the credit for that goes to Sanju Samson.
Rajasthan Royals wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju
Samson on Tuesday added another feather to his cap by hitting his fastest fifty
in their opening match of IPL 2020 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Samson brought up his half-century in just 19 balls against Chennai Super Kings with 6 towering sixes and a sole boundary after MS Dhoni won the toss and put RR in to bat first.His previous best was a 24-ball fifty for Delhi Capitals against the Gujarat Lions at the Feroz Shah Kotla on May 4, 2017. Samson's blistering knock helped Rajasthan post 96 runs for the loss of 1 wicket in 8 overs.
Overall, Samson's 19-ball effort is the joint-sixth fastest in IPL history along with Chris Lynn, KL Rahul, Harbhajan Singh, Owais Shah, David Miller, Andre Russell and Robin Uthappa. This is also the joint-2nd fastest half-century for the Royals after Jos Buttler's 18-ball effort against Delhi Capitals last season. Owais Shah had also hit a 19-ball 50 for RR against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2012.
Rahul holds the IPL record for the fastest
fifty off 14 balls, a feat he achieved in a game against Delhi Capitals at the
IS Bindra stadium in Mohali on April 8, 2018.
Samson's fifty was his 11th in the IPL. He
has 2 hundreds to his name and showed glimpses of his past form against CSK,
taking a liking towards leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who got honked for 6 sixes
by the right-hander.
Samson was eventually dismissed for 74 off 32
balls by Lungi Ngidi in the 12th over. But he had already done a lot of damage
by then with RR's score reading 2 for 132. He had come to the crease at the
fall of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal's wicket with the score reading 11 for 1 in 2.2
overs.
The
wicket-keeper batsman, who is looking to leave an impression on Indian
selectors this IPL, took just 19 balls to hammer a quickfire 50. The
25-year-old right-hander mostly dealt in 6s as he shot nine maximums and a
solitary boundary before his ininngs came to an end in an attempted slog off
Lungi Ngidi.
He was
aptly supported from the other end by skipper Steve Smith, who also scored his
9th fifty right after Sanju's departure.
The
whirlwind of an innings left many in awe of the batsman as plenty throng to
social media to praise the RR star.
Cricket-turn-politican
Gautam Gambhir was generous in his praises to Kerala batsman as he called him
the best wicketkeeper-batsman in Indian and also the best young batting talent
in the country.
"Sanju Samson is
not just the best wicketkeeper batsmen in India but the best young batsman in
India! Anyone up for debate?" he wrote on Twitter.
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