Images from the IPL 2024 match between Lucknow Super Giants and Rajasthan Royals at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Saturday.
Samson smashed 71 not out from 33 balls, while Jurel got back among the runs with a sparkling 52 from 34 balls as the duo put on a match-winning stand of 121 runs for the fourth wicket.
Chasing 197 for victory, Royals eased to victory with an over to spare.
Royals continued to dominate the standings, as they registered their eighth victory from nine matches, while LSG are fourth with five wins from nine games.
Rajasthan openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler knocked off 60 runs from the target unscathed, but their side went through a slump in the following overs while also losing three wickets in quick succession.
Buttler was the first wicket to fall when he missed the full toss from Yash Thakur and was bowled in the sixth over after stroking 34 from 18 balls.
Two balls late, Royals suffered another huge blow. The normally-aggressive Yashasvi Jaiswal made a sedate 24 from 18 balls before he miscued Marcus Stoinis straight into the hands of Ravi Bishnoi at deep point
LSG's plans to tie the Royals down with spin became evident when the 41-year-old Amit Mishra came on as the Impact Substitute and got the priced scalp of Riyan Parag (11) in his first over.
Rajasthan slipped from 60 for no loss to 78/3 in the ninth over -- losing three wickets for 18 runs in the space of 17 balls. Royals captain Samson started the rescue act in the company of the young Jurel, who was clearly short of runs coming into the match.
Jurel and Samson began with a six and a four respectively off Mishra to push the leg-spinner on the backfoot and hit 17 off the next over bowled by Thakur.
Krunal Pandya (0/24) did well on his part to bowl a few tight overs in the middle before Royals seized back the momentum, smashing Mohsin Khan for 20 runs in the 14th ove, hitting the left-arm pacer for three fours and a six.
In the same over, Jurel got a couple of repreives when Thakur put down two tough catches at short thirdman
Surprisingly, LSG held back Bishnoi as late as the 16th over but the gamble backfired as Samson slamed two fours and a six off the over to take control of the run chase.
Both Samson and Jurel completed their half-centuries in the 18th over. Samson completed his fifty in grand style with a six over midwicket off Mohsin from 28 balls and Jurel got the landmark from 31 balls a couple of balls later.
Fittingly, Samson finished off the match in smashing fashion, hitting Thakur for a four and a six as Royals cruised to victory with an over to spare.
Earlier, K L Rahul (76) dug deep with Deepak Hooda (50) to steer LSG to a competitive 196/5.
Rahul and Hooda gave LSG a solid footing with a 62-ball 115-run stand for the third wicket after early blows, but the failure of others meant the hosts could not capitalise on the hard work by the two.
Rahul's 48-ball 76 with eight fours and two sixes was his fourth fifty of the season, while Hooda banished his poor string of scores to make his first big score in IPL 2024.
Trent Boult was unfazed after being hit for two fours on the trot by Quinton de Kock, knocking down the South African's off-stump on the third ball of the game.
Sandeep Sharma (2/31) left last match's centurion Marcus Stoinis in awe with a peach, getting the ball to nip back in and sneaking in between the Australian's bat and pads to hit the middle stump.
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A four-ball duck was what Stoinis could follow up with after his magnificent century against Chennai Super Kings.
A little slow to start, Rahul and Hooda did well to make up the lost ground in the middle overs.
Rahul was lucky when he shuffled across on his right to expose all three stumps, attempting a slog sweep off Sandeep in the sixth over as the ball narrowly missed the stumps.
LSG's comeback began in the eighth over when Rahul smacked Avesh Khan for 21 runs, including two sixes.
Hooda welcomed back Boult with an 18-run 11th over including two fours, but the right-hander perished immediately after completing his fifty.
Ashwin applied the breaks on LSG's progress and end his drought of wickets in IPL 2024, picking up only his second wicket to have Hooda caught at long-on by Rovman Powell.
The skewed boundary lengths at Ekana came into play when Sandeep surprised Nicholas Pooran (11) with a short ball which climbed on the batter, and the top edge flew straight into the hands of a waiting Boult at the deep backward square leg.
Rahul also fell in a similar fashion when Avesh dug one short and wide for the LSG skipper to free up his arms but the ball did not travel the distance and Boult took a low catch to end the part-time India skipper's resistance.
