Skipper Sanju Samson inspired his side as Rajasthan Royals defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 20 runs in their Indian Premier League opener on Sunday.
Samson cracked an unbeaten 82 off 52 balls to guide inaugural IPL champions Rajasthan to 193-4 after they chose to bat first in Jaipur.
Rajasthan's New Zealand pacer Trent Boult then struck two early blows to gut the Lucknow batting, which finished on 173-6 despite an unbeaten 64 by West Indies' batter Nicholas Pooran.
Lucknow, who made the play-offs in the last two seasons since their debut alongside Gujarat Titans in 2022, lost regular wickets but skipper KL Rahul kept the chase on track with a 44-ball 58.
The left-handed Pooran then took over, and along with Rahul, put on 85 runs for the fifth wicket but the asking rate kept climbing.
Rahul fell to Sandeep Sharma after his 50 and Marcus Stoinis's departure left Pooran with a lot to get in the final few overs.
Earlier, Samson took on the opposition attack and built key partnerships, including a 93-run third-wicket stand with Riyan Parag, who made 43.
Samson hit six sixes on a pitch with variable bounce where Lucknow bowlers took a beating, except Krunal Pandya, who returned figures of 0-19.
The Rajasthan innings witnessed a nearly 10-minute halt in the first over when a cable of the spidercam broke as technicians scurried to sort out the wires on the field.
Player of the match Samson, said: "Good start, but let's see how it goes. It's all about understanding your strengths and weakness. I just react to the ball. That helps me maintain the shape. Everyone chipped in well. We just had to stick to our plans."
KL Rahul, the defeated LSG captain bemoaned what he felt was a missed opportunity.
"I don't think the target was a lot, it was just 10 over-par," he said. "We bowled well in patches. Not making too much out of it. Just made a few mistakes. Mohsin [Khan] was our powerplay bowler in the first season, but he wasn't fully fit last season. Good to see him back.
"Naveen [ul-Haq] has been crucial for us since he has come in. Powerplay is crucial for every team, and I don't think any team has cracked it yet. When we are three for nothing, and we give ourselves a chance of chasing 194 speaks of our line-up ... We need to find ways to win games of cricket.
"We'll try to build from here, and see where we can get stronger. [Justin] Langer's brought a lot of calmness to the group. I stole his line when I said we need to find ways to win games of cricket. We enjoy having him around. All of us have watched him coach Australia to a T20 World Cup and an Ashes victory.
"When you get runs, you always feel good. But it's important for us to end up on the winning side. That gives more satisfaction. Missing a season was really painful."
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
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MATCH INFO
Barcelona 5 (Lenglet 2', Vidal 29', Messi 34', 75', Suarez 77')
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Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
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Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
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Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
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