Samson led Rajasthan to win

Sanju Samson led from the front as Rajasthan Royals defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 20 runs in their IPL opener on Sunday.

Captain Samson struck an unbeaten 52-ball 82 to guide the inaugural IPL champions to 193-4 after electing to bat first in Jaipur.

Rajasthan's New Zealand quick Trent Boult then struck two early blows to rattle Lucknow's batting, which finished on 173-6 despite an unbeaten 64 from West Indies opener Nicholas Pooran.

Lucknow, who have made the play-offs in the last two seasons since their debut alongside Gujarat Titans in 2022, lost wickets regularly - including that of Proteas opener Quinton de Kock for four - but skipper KL Rahul tried to keep the chase going despite his slow start with a 44-ball 58.

The left-handed Pooran then took charge and put on 85 runs for the fifth wicket with Rahul, but the asking rate kept rising.

Rahul fell to Sandeep Sharma after his fifty and the departure of Marcus Stoinis left Pooran with a lot to do in the final overs.

Proteas fast bowler Nandre Burger took his first IPL wicket, finishing with figures of 1-30 from three overs.

Samson remained the hero as he took on the opposition attack, building key partnerships including a 93-run third wicket stand with Riyan Parag, who made 43.

Samson smashed six sixes on a pitch with variable bounce that saw the Lucknow bowlers all but Krunal Pandya, who returned figures of 0-19.

The Rajasthan innings was interrupted for almost 10 minutes in the first over when a spider cam cable snapped as technicians rushed to sort out the wires on the field.