Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson continued his ritual of scoring big in the first match of an Indian Premier League (IPL) season in the 2022 edition as well. Samson went ballistic against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowlers and hit as many as five sixes in his 55-run knock to break Shane Watson’s long-standing record for the Royals.
Samson has most sixes for Royals in the history of IPL. He needed five more sixes to get past Watson who had hit 109 sixes from 76 innings. The Kerala-born batter achieved the feat in his 100th match for the winners of inaugural season of the league. No other current Royals’ batter is near to hitting 100 sixes for the franchise. Their English wicketkeeper-batter has 67 sixes from 42 games.
After reaching the top of the list, he joined the elite list of batters who have struck most sixes for their respective franchises which includes Chris Gayle (RCB), Kieron Pollard (MI), MS Dhoni (CSK), David Warner (SRH), Andre Russell (KKR), Rishabh Pant (DC), KL Rahul (PBKS). Warner and Rahul are the only two batters who are playing for a different franchise this season.
Batting at no.3 ahead of Devdutt Padikkal, he scored 55 runs from 27 deliveries at a strike rate of 203.70. He shared a 73-run partnership for the third wicket with Padikkal. The 27-year-old reached his half-century off just 25 deliveries. He took off-spinner Washington Sundar to cleaners, hitting him for three sixes and one four.
This is the third consecutive season where Samson has registered a fifty-plus score in the first match. He scored a scintillating 119 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Royals’ first match of IPL 2021 season. In 2020, he registered a 74-run knock against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Samson’s knock helped Royals post a daunting total of 210/6 against Kane Williamson-led SRH at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. Apart from Samson, Padikkal, Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer contributed with 29-ball 41, 28-ball 35 and 13-ball 32 respectively.
