The injury occurred during the sixth over of RR's chase of 189 in Delhi, when Samson tried to cut the legspinner Vipraj Nigam and missed. He immediately clutched at his left side, around the rib cage and needed attention from the physio.

The next delivery was a free-hit because Nigam had bowled a front-foot no-ball. Samson clubbed it down the ground to long-off but was in so much discomfort once again that he could not run and instead moved to the side of the pitch and clutched at his side. He then decided to retire hurt and was replaced by Riyan Parag.

Samson was on 31 off 19 balls when he got injured, having added 61 for the first wicket with Yashasvi Jaiswal in 5.3 overs. It remains to be seen if he will return at some stage if RR need him again during the chase.

RR are currently in eighth place in the points table, on four points along with Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. They lost their first two games of the season, then won the next two, and then lost their fifth and sixth matches before the game against DC.

Their next three fixtures are against Lucknow Super Giants at home on April 19, away against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 24, and at home against Gujarat Titans on April 28.