Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson became the club’s most successful leader in terms of wins as his brushed past Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 contest at Mullanpur on Saturday evening.
Resuming full-time leadership from his finger injury for the first time this season, Samson and his men posted the highest total at the venue before the collective bowling effort stopped the Punjab juggernaut. Led by seamers Jofra Archer and Sandeep Sharma, Rajasthan burst through the Punjab top-order before effecting a 50-run victory.
Pace spearhead Archer returned to form rather quickly as he cleaned up opener Priyansh Arya and skipper Shreyas Iyer with searing deliveries in the first over. Meanwhile, Sharma dismissed Marcus Stoinis to stab Punjab further down. While Archer finished economically with figures of 3/25 in four overs, Sharma followed up with 2/21 in four.
Skipper Samson hailed the seam duo with a light-hearted comparison between the speeds of the English quick and the medium-paced Sharma.
Archer on 🎯
Jofra Archer’s double timber-strike gives #RR a dream start 💥
Updates ▶ https://t.co/kjdEJydDWe#TATAIPL | #PBKSvRR | @JofraArcher | @rajasthanroyals pic.twitter.com/CfLjvlCC6L
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 5, 2025
“That’s a very deadly combo,. one guy bowling at 150 and one guy at 115,” Samson said.
When told that Sandeep had clocked 130 kph on the broadcast, Samson with trademark flavour asked: Oh did he? We should cut a cake on that maybe (smiles).”
“I can trust them a bit more with the pressure overs. We all love it when he (Archer) bowls fast.” Archer made his return to the Royals franchise with a Rs 12.50 crore signing. The 30-year-old began his IPL journey with the Royals in 2018 and continued playing until 2021 before making a one-season appearance for Mumbai Indians in 2023.
With successive wins, the Royals have managed to bounce back to four points in as many games and stand seventh on the table. They will next face the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.