Sanju Samson’s sensational hundred on his captaincy debut went in vain as young pacer Arshdeep Singh held his nerve in the final over to help Punjab Kings pull off a thrilling four-run win over Rajasthan Royals in a high-scoring IPL game at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
KL Rahul (91 off 50) and Deepak Hooda (64 off 28) powered Punjab Kings to an imposing 221 for six after being put in to bat on a batting beauty.
Samson almost took Royals home with a breathtaking 119 off 63 balls but was caught off the final ball of the game as left-arm pacer Arshdeep successfully defended 13 runs in the last over.
Samson, who effortlessly struck seven sixes and 12 fours, refused a single to Chris Morris on the penultimate ball of the game when Royals needed five runs off two balls. In the end, it was not to be for Royals as Punjab scraped through.
Chasing 222, Rajasthan lost opener Ben Stokes (0) early. Arshdeep, then, removed Manan Vohra (12) as he lobbed a regulation return catch,…