SRH vs RR: "Was tough to bat..." - Sanju Samson shamelessly defends his duck dismissal

Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals (RR) took on the Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 50th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Thursday, May 2, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

Rajasthan Royals wanted to bat first in the match but a loss at the toss meant that they had to bowl first in the match. Trent Boult didn't continue his tradition of picking first-over wickets, but RR managed to stop dangerous SRH openers from scoring fast and quick runs. 

Head smashed a slow half-century, but a terrific 76-run knock from Nitish Reddy and a quickfire 42-run knock from Heinrich Klaasen took Sunrisers Hyderabad to a good total of 201/3. For RR, Avesh Khan picked two wickets while Sandeep Sharma got one wicket.

Chasing the target, Riyan Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal played exceptional innings after losing Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson in the first over. Both of them smashed sensational half-centuries to push SRH on the backfoot and were involved in a 134-run stand.

However, after their dismissals, things didn't go the way RR would've liked as Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, and Rovman Powell also didn't score significant runs, and RR were restricted to 200/7 to lose the match by 1 run. The heroes for SRH were T Natarajan, Pat Cummins, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bowled brilliantly in the final overs.

Speaking after the match, Sanju Samson looked dejected following the loss but he made sure to praise SRH bowlers for fighting back strong. Sanju Samson said:

"We have played some really close games this season, won a couple of them and lost this one. Credit to the SRH bowlers for the way they fought back. The margin of error is very less in the IPL. The game is never done till it is done."

Sanju Samson defended his duck dismissal, saying that batting against the new ball was tough and it became easier as the ball got old. He lauded the young duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag for helping RR get back into the game after losing quick wickets. Sanju Samson elaborated:

"It was tough to bat against the new ball and when it got old, it became easier. Credit to both youngsters (Jaiswal and Parag), myself and Jos (Buttler) got out in the powerplay, they played well and got us to that position."

Rajasthan Royals' Current Position In IPL Standings 

Before the match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the dominant Rajasthan Royals (RR) were sitting at the top of the mountain in the Indian Premier League 2024 points table with one foot into the IPL playoffs despite participating in just 9 matches. They had 16 points with 8 wins and 1 loss in 9 matches and they had a Net Run Rate of 0.694.

Now after the conclusion of the match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals have retained their top spot but there has been a slight decrease in their Net Run Rate as now it stands at 0.622.

Sanju Samson-led side will be next seen in action when they take on the Rishabh Pant-led Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 56th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 on May 7 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

After that, they will be going head-to-head with the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 61st match of the Indian Premier League 2024 on May 12 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.