IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson fined for slow over-rate against PBKS

Rajasthan Royals after going through a poor campaign in the first half of the tournament have made a positive start to the IPL 2021 UAE leg by winning the first match against Punjab Kings. Rajasthan Royals' victory in the PBKS vs RR match can be credited to young pacer Kartik Tyagi who defended four runs in a thrilling final over to seal the deal for the team. 

While everyone lauded the youngster's effort in such a high-pressure scenario, it was not great news for Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson who was fined for a slow over-rate after completion of the match. Sanju Samson did not have a great outing scoring just 4 runs before being caught by his opposite number KL Rahul of Ishan Porel's delivery.

IPL 2021: Sanju Samson fined for slow overrate

According to the information given on the IPL T2o website, Sanju Samson has been fined after his team maintained a slow over-rate during the PBKS vs RR match at the Dubai International Stadium, Dubai on September 21. The release further said that since this being Rajasthan Royals first offence of the season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, skipper Sanju Samson was fined INR 12 lakh.  

IPL 2021: Recap of Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings

Put in to bat, Jaiswal and Lewis gave RR a flying start with the former smashing two successive fours off Shami in the first over and the latter smacking Ishan Porel, also playing his first match, for a six. The West Indies batsman punished Porel for bowling short and wide, blasting four boundaries in the fourth over. Deepak Hooda was then taken to the cleaners as he bled 13 runs.

Arshdeep then produced the breakthrough, deceiving Lewis with a slower ball as Mayank Agarwal took a fine low catch as RR were 57 for one after the powerplay. Rajasthan Royals ended up making 183/4 with Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (49) and Mahipal Lomror (43) scoring the bulk of the runs for the team. For Punjab Kings Arshdeep Singh (5/32) and Mohammed Shami (3/21) did the majority of the damage. 

Chasing 184 runs to win Sanju Samson's side was seemingly down and out when KXIP opening pair Mayank Agarwal (67) and KL Rahul (49) put on 120 runs in 11.5 overs. With Aiden Markram (26 not out) and Nicholas Pooran (32) going strong, it looked like it would be only a matter of time when Punjab would wrap up the match. But in the end, Punjab made a mess in the last over to suffer their sixth defeat from nine matches. With this win, the Royals moved to the fifth spot after four wins from eight matches.

(With PTI inputs)