Samson eclipses Warne, wins most IPL matches for Rajasthan Royals as captain

Mullanpur (Rajasthan) [India], April 6 (ANI): Indian batter Sanju Samson eclipsed late Australian legend Shane Warne to become the captain with the most wins for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.

Samson accomplished this milestone during his side’s win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) at Mullanpur.

This was Samson’s 32nd win as RR captain, outdoing Warne’s 31 wins. Warne captained RR from 2008-11, winning 31, losing 24.

Now, Samson has been leading RR since 2021 and has won 32 matches, lost 29, and one ended with no result. He led RR to runners-up finish in 2022 to Gujarat Titans (GT) and playoffs in 2024.

After PBKS won the toss and elected to bowl first, an 89-run stand between Yashasvi Jaiswal (67 in 45 balls, with three fours and five sixes) and Sanju Samson (38 in 26 balls, with six fours) kickstarted things to RR. Cameos from Riyan Parag (43* in 25 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Shimron Hetmyer (20 in 12 balls, with two fours and a six) took RR to 205/4 in 20 overs.

Lockie Ferguson (2/37) was top bowler for PBKS. Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen got one wicket each.

During the run-chase, PBKS was reduced to 43/4 by Jofra Archer (3/25). However, an 88-run stand between Nehal Wadhera (62 in 41 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Glenn Maxwell (30 in 21 balls, with three fours and a six) gave PBKS’ hope. However, after their dismissals, PBKS lost their direction and missed boundaries dearly. PBKS was restricted to 155/9 in 20 overs, thanks to some fine bowling support from Sandeep Sharma (2/21) and Maheesh Theekshana (2/26).