Sanju Samson scored the fastest fifty of his IPL career taking just 19 balls to reach the feat. This happened after MD Dhoni won the toss and asked the Royals to bat first. Samson came after the fall of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s wicket in the third over of the innings.
He hit seven sixes in the process, hitting two to Ravindra Jadeja in the seventh and three to Piyush Chawla in the eighth over as Chawla was hit for four sixes in his second over which went for 28 runs.He smacked the ball to all parts of the ground as Samson looked in menacing form for the Royals.
Meanwhile, Steve Smith opened the batting for Rajasthan as they went into the match without their key players Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes. Smith and Samson brought the 100 up for Royal in the ninth over. They also added a 100-run stand as well inside the first 10 overs.
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Meanwhile, Twitter was elated with Sanju Samson’s exquisite hitting in Sharjah.
This is how they responded to Samson’s efficient batting display:
My god…. #SanjuSamson on fire !! He has the ability to hit Six sixes in an over !!
— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) September 22, 2020
Sanju Samson’s six hitting is in a different league….the ease with which clears the fence (off fast and slow bowlers) is an absolute delight. Piyush v Samson should be a contest to watch…. #RRvCSK #IPL2020
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 22, 2020
Sanju Samson in murderous mood. Taking the spin challenge of Jadeja and Chawla head on. Brilliant array of strokes, delight to watch!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 22, 2020
If this is what he can do with the bat, wonder why Sanju Samson isn’t a permanent in the Indian white-ball team @IamSanjuSamson #RRvsCSK #IPLwithAajTak #IPL2020
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) September 22, 2020
Rename it as Sanju Samson's roof #OhHeLovesThatRoof
— Venkata Krishna B (@venkatatweets) September 22, 2020
Some clean and extraordinary hitting from Sanju Samson. As clean as it gets #IPL2020 #CSKvsRR
— Ankush Das (@ankushd1993) September 22, 2020
This is brilliant hitting from #SanjuSamson… Great start by @rajasthanroyals. Interesting phase of the game coming up! @ChennaiIPL#InsideOut #IPL #IPL2020 #RRvCSK
— MANOJ TIWARY (@tiwarymanoj) September 22, 2020
Sanju Samson Hits Quickfire Fifty
Sanju Samson is one of the batting pillars of the Royals since a few years now and he has the franchise another to trust him. He and Smith added 131 in just over 10 overs after which he was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi for 74 off just 32 deliveries. He hit nine sixes in his innings.
Soon after Sanju Samson was dismissed, Royals skipper Steve Smith brought up his fifty. He too is making a comeback after an injury layoff, missing the ODI series against England.
Earlier, Royals coach Andrew McDonald said that he was happy to have Steve Smith available for the first game. Smith also got a life in his innings on 52 as Sam Curran parried the ball for a six off Ravindra Jadeja.
