Lucknow Super Giants bounced back, after the defeat against Punjab Kings, to beat the in-form Rajasthan Royals in Match 26 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Kyle Mayers’ composed knock of 51(42) coupled with late bursts from Marcus Stoinis (21 off 16) and Nicholas Pooran (29 off 20) helped LSG post 154/7. A disciplined performance from the bowlers, led by Avesh Khan (3/28), saw the away side choke the RR batters, maintain the stranglehold, hold their nerve and restrict LSG to 144/6 to win the match by 10 runs.
Chasing 155, Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal provided RR a steady start. Jaiswal got into the groove early and smacked a four and a six in the second over from Yudhvir Singh which saw him bowl five WIDES as well and concede 16 off the second over. Buttler then got going as he cracked a 112m six, off Yudhvir. The pair went after Avesh Khan, hitting him for three fours to make the most of the last over of the Powerplay as RR reached 47/0.
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LSG introduced Amit Mishra as their Impact Player in the 9th over, replacing Kyle Mayers.
Buttler and Jaiswal took a patient approach, hitting an odd four in an over as RR moved at around seven-and-a-half an over. LSG then clawed their way back into the match with three quick wickets. Jaiswal thumped a six over mid-wicket, off Stoinis in the 12th over but the LSG all-rounder hit back to dismiss Jaiswal two balls later as he had Jaiswal caught at short third man. RR lost their captain Sanju Samson as he was run out following a bit of a confusion with Buttler while trying to go for a quick single.
RR lost three wickets in three overs as Buttler mistimed his heave off Stoinis straight into the hands of Ravi Bishnoi at deep mid-wicket on 40(41).
Things slowed down. Naveen-ul-Haq gave away just five as the required rate crept over 10 an over. The pressure got to the in-form Shimron Hetmyer (2 off 5) as he holed out to long on, off Avesh Khan in the 16th over. With 42 needed off 18, Impact Player Devdutt Padikkal hit three fours in an over off Stoinis to bring the equation down to 29 needed off 12.
Naveen-ul-Haq started off the penultimate over well, giving away three singles off three balls but then Riyan Parag swung the next one over deep mid-wicket for a six. The Afghanistan pacer though finished well, giving just one off the last two balls.
With 19 needed off six, Riyan Parag cracked the first ball of the final over from Avesh Khan over backward point for a four. Parag went for a heave next ball but missed and ran through for a leg bye. Avesh then provided a crucial moment as he had Padikkal (26 off 21) caught behind off the next ball as the equation came down to 14 off 3. Deepak Hooda then pulled off a brilliant catch under pressure of Dhruv Jurel at the long on fence as Avesh Khan scalped two wickets in two balls. The last two balls brought just three as LSG won the match by 10 runs. It was an excellent final over from Avesh as he gave away just 8 runs and picked up two wickets.
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Earlier, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl. They made one change to the starting XI as Jason Holder replaced Adam Zampa. They named Devdutt Padikkal, Murugan Ashwin, Joe Root, Donovan Ferreira and Navdeep Saini as their substitutes.
Lucknow Super Giants made one change to the starting eleven as Naveen-ul-Haq replaced Mark Wood. They named Jaydev Unadkat, K Gowtham, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad and Amit Mishra as their substitutes.
Trent Boult was on target right from the start as he bowled disciplined lines and got a hint of movement. KL Rahul was cautious in the first over and played out a maiden. Kyle Mayers opened RR’s account in the next over as he got an outside edge off Sandeep Sharma to third man for a four. Rahul opened his boundary account in the same over, cracking one through point for a four as LSG took 12 from the over. Boult again bowled an impressive over and bowled five dots, giving away just two runs.
RR could have had their first wicket in the next over but Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped KL Rahul at extra cover, off Sandeep Sharma when on six. He had a chance to make amends four deliveries later as he put in a brilliant fielding effort but missed the direct hit at the non-striker’s end. Had he hit, Rahul would have been found short. Sandeep made a good comeback and gave away just four runs.
Mayers and Rahul finally looked to break free as Mayers cracked a six over extra cover, off Boult. Rahul slashed at one and got an outside edge wide of the keeper for a four. He then got another reprieve as Holder dropped a tough catch running back at mid off. R Ashwin bowled the last over of the Powerplay and gave away just six runs as LSG reached 37/0 at the end of the first six over.
After another quiet over, Mayers and Rahul switched gears as Mayers cracked a six over long off to bring up LSG’s fifty and Rahul hit a four over mid-wicket. The pair took the attack to Chahal in the next over hitting a couple of sixes and a four to accumulate 18 runs off the over.
They couldn’t get the better of Ashwin though who varied his pace and lengths really well and gave away just five in the next over. Holder gave away three singles off the first three balls of the next over. A nine-ball boundaryless phase built the pressure and Holder was rewarded with it as he had Rahul (39) caught at long on.
LSG sent Ayush Badoni up the order but he couldn’t create an impact as Boult returned to clean him up for 1(4). Badoni walked way across and looked to scoop but ended up getting a bottom edge onto the stumps. Boult finished a splendid spell of 4-1-16-1.
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Mayers hammered a couple of fours off Chahal in the next over and brought up his fifty off 40 balls.
But LSG Lost another wicket in the next over as the excellent Ashwin had him brilliantly caught at deep square leg by Shimron Hetmyer. The RR all-rounder had another one in the over, a big one, as he cleaned up Mayers (51 off 42) with a beauty.
The boundaries dried up again as Chahal conceded just five in his last over and Holder gave away six in the next over.
RR brought in Devdutt Padikkal as their Impact Player in the 16th over, replacing Chahal who had completed his quota of overs.
Stoinis did hit a four in the next over from Sandeep Sharma but the bowler bounced back well to concede just four runs off the remaining five balls. Ashwin finished off a brilliant spell (4-0-23-2) by giving away just six off his last over. LSG could manage just 31/2 in the 14-18 over phase.
Pooran finally injected some momentum, hammering a couple of fours and a six to take 17 off the penultimate over. The away side though couldn’t finish well as they lost three wickets, including two run outs and scored just 8 off the last over from Sandeep Sharma to post 154/7.
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