Sanju Samson hits fifty-plus in fifth straight IPL opening match for RR

Sanju Samson extended his streak of scoring fifty-plus in Rajasthan Royals’ opening match of the Indian Premier League season to five after he chalked up an unbeaten 82 against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday.

The Rajasthan Royals captain started his IPL 2024 campaign in the third over and led from the front to guide his team to a competitive total of 193/4 despite losing both openers in the powerplay.

Sanju’s knock helped the Royals beat the Super Giants by 20 runs and start their IPL 2024 campaign on the right note. His unbeaten 82 came in just 52 balls at a strike rate of 157.69, powered by three fours and six sixes.

“It’s always great fun to spend time in the middle,” Sanju said during the post-match presentation. “I have been playing IPL for 10 years, so there's experience coming in. It's all about understanding your strengths and weaknesses. I just react to the ball. That helps me maintain the shape.”

This ensured that Sanju continued his dream run in IPL openers for the Royals where he has ended up with four Player of the Match awards out of the last five. His team also won four of those five matches.

In the last five IPL opening matches for the Royals, Sanju has scored 385 runs at an average of 96.25 and a strike rate of 187.80. It includes a century, his 119 against Punjab Kings in IPL 2021, which is his highest score in the IPL. Incidentally, that was the only match the Royals lost from the five.

Sanju Samson in first IPL match of the season since 2020