Courtesy: BCCI/IPL/RR
Inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) got their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign back on track with a big win by 50 runs over highly billed Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur on Saturday, April 5. On his return to captaincy after recovering from a finger injury, RR captain Sanju Samson, who marshalled his troops well, hailed Jofra Archer and Sandeep Sharma, calling them a deadly combo before sharing a hilarious anecdote.
Notably, after being put into bat first by PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer, the RR opening duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson provided a brilliant start to the visitors, sharing an 89-run stand before their captain was dismissed for 38 off 26. Jaiswal was the top-scorer for RR with 67 runs in 45 balls, an innings which included three fours and five maximums, while key contributions from Riyan Parag (43* off 25) and Shimron Hetymer (20 off 12) helped their team reach an above par total of 205/4 in their allotted 20 overs.
In pursuit of the 206-run target, PBKS had the worst start possible as Jofra Archer cleaned up youngster Priyansh Arya for a golden duck before taking the prized scalp of Shreyas Iyer for 10 runs. After finding themselves at 43/4 in 6.2 overs, PBKS had their middle order batters Nehal Wadhera (62 off 41) and Glenn Maxwell (30 off 21) bring them back into the match with a 88-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but against the run of play, they were dismissed on back-to-back deliveries.
One guy bowling around 150 kph and another bowling around 115 (kph): Samson on Jofra and Sandeep
After that, PBKS batting lineup fell away as they were restricted to 155/9 in 20 overs as Jofra Archer registered figures of 3/25 in his quota, while Sandeep Sharma took two wickets for 21 runs in his spell. In his post-match chat, Sanju Samson addressed the value that the aforementioned pacers bring to the RR, by saying, as per ESPNcricinfo, “That is a very deadly combo - one guy bowling around 150 kph and another bowling around 115 [kph].”
When Samson was told about Sandeep clocking 130 kph in the match for RR against PBKS in the IPL 2025, he remarked, “I think we should cut a cake on that, maybe.” He also spoke about how “I can trust them with pressure overs. We all love it when he [Archer] bowls those quick overs. Sandy has been doing it for me for the past few years. He is one of the best guys in India who bowls both in the powerplay and death overs.”
