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Sanju Samson was once again among the runs as Rajasthan Royals defeated Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets, on Sunday. The RR captain smacked an unbeaten match-winning knock as his side reached 199/3 in 19 overs, in their chase of 197 runs.
The wicketkeeper-batter slammed 71* off 33 balls, packed with seven fours and four sixes, and formed an unbeaten partnership with Dhruv Jurel (52*). Hailing Samson’s impact, Australia legend Matthew Hayden had a stern message for Team India selectors ahead of their T20 World Cup squad announcement.
“With Sanju, he always seems to get overlooked for national honours. I honestly been saying this for a decade, I don’t know why because he is a serious hitter of the ball and if you put him up top, he does the damage through the phases. Tonight was the perfect captain’s knock and guess what, he did it in the end,” said Hayden, while speaking on Star Sports.
Samson is now second in the Orange Cap race with 385 runs in nine matches, at a strike rate of 161.08. This season, he has bagged four half-centuries but hasn’t got a ton yet.
RR are on course to qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs and cemented their position on top of the table with 16 points in nine matches. This season, they have won eight games and have lost only once.
Samson will be hoping to make the cut for India’s T20 World Cup squad, but faces stiff competition from Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul for the wicketkeeper-batter role. Rahul donned the gloves in the ODI World Cup last year. Meanwhile, Pant was India’s regular wicketkeeper-batter before his freak car accident which saw him miss more than a year of cricket. Pant made his comeback in IPL 2024.
Rahul and Pant are also in contention for the Orange Cap and are just behind Samson. Rahul is currently third in the standings, with 378 runs in nine matches. Meanwhile, Pant is fourth with 371 runs in 10 fixtures.
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