Sharjah: Sanju Samson and skipper Steve Smith smashed quickfire half-centuries to guide Rajasthan Royals to a formidable 216 for seven against Chennai Super Kings in an IPL match here on Tuesday.
Sent into bat, Rajasthan lost young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (6) in the third over but then Samson joined hands with Smith as the duo played sensibly initially before the Kerala wicket-keeper batsman went hammer and tongs at opposition spinners.
Samson (74 off 32) looked in great nick, while Smith, returning to competitive cricket after recovering from concussion suffered before the ODI series against England, made 67 off 49 balls to lay the base for Rajasthan’s total.
In the final over, Jofra Archer (27 off 8 balls) hit four sixes off Lungi Ngidi as Royals got 30 runs to take the score past 215.
In all, Royals hit 17 sixes with Samson accounting for nine of them and Smith and Archer having…
