Mullanpur:

 Rajasthan Royals beat Punjab Kings by 50 runs in the 18th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur. He resumed the captaincy in this season after playing only as a batter in the first three matches for the franchise, and Riyan Parag was the stand-in captain. In his very first match, Samson inked his name in the record books, becoming the captain with the most wins for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Samson was playing as a batter and impact substitute in the first three games, but he assumed captaincy against PBKS after getting clearance from the BCCI Centre of Excellence to keep wickets.

The victory was Samson’s 32nd since leading the team from 2021. He has won 32 matches, lost 29 and one ended in a no result. He led RR to the final in 2022, where they lost the title to Gujarat Titans and also captained the team to the playoffs in the 2024 edition.

Most wins as RR captain (IPL):

32 - Sanju Samson (62 mats)*

31 - Shane Warne (55 mats)

18 - Rahul Dravid (34 mats)

15 - Steven Smith (27 mats)

9 - Ajinkya Rahane (24 mats)

PBKS won the toss and invited the opposition to bat. Yashavsi Jaiswal played a whirlwind knock of 67 runs for the team while Riyan Parag contributed with an unbeaten knock of 43 runs. Lockie Ferguson picked a couple of wickets for PBKS, and RR managed to post 205/4 on the scoreboard.

PBKS were always away from the chase as Nehal Wadhera was the only batter to play a crucial knock for the team. He scored 62 runs from 41 deliveries, but his resilience went in vain as the team ended up short of the target and RR won by 50 runs.

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