The Rajasthan Royals (RR) registered their 8th victory in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 after beating the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 24 runs yesterday at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
RR bounced back with a 24-run victory courtesy of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s crucial 41 at the top and Trent Boult’s economical figures of 2/18.
Chasing 179 for victory, LSG were 15/0 after two overs before Trent Boult dismissed Quinton de Kock and Ayush Badoni with consecutive deliveries.
While Neesham took a sharp catch inside the circle to dismiss de Kock, Badoni was trapped LBW by the left-arm seamer.
KL Rahul played an exquisite lofted shot for a maximum before the LSG skipper was caught by Jaiswal inside the circle off Prasidh Krishna’s bowling. LSG found themselves in a tricky position at 34-3 at the end of the powerplay.
Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya stitched a crucial partnership for the fourth wicket after both batters blasted a six each.
LSG were 66-3 at the end of 10 overs and the 50 partnership was up between the duo. Ravi Ashwin put an end to the partnership after Jos Buttler and Riyan Parag produced an excellent relay catch to dismiss Krunal Pandya.
Hooda reached his half-century in the 15th over and LSG required 72 off 30 deliveries. Chahal scalped the all-important wicket of Hooda, the all-rounder stumped by the opposition skipper.
Obed McCoy then scalped two wickets in an over to dismiss Jason Holder and Dushmantha Chameera. A maximum from Marcus Stoinis brought the equation down to 49 off 12.
Fifteen runs came from the penultimate over and LSG required 34 off six deliveries. Stoinis hammered the first ball for six but was caught in the outfield off the next ball as LSG fell 25 runs short of the target.
Earlier, RR, who opted to bat first, made two changes – Jimmy Neesham and Obed McCoy were named in the 11.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was off the mark with consecutive fours but Avesh Khan provided the first wicket for LSG after the seamer rattled the stumps of Buttler.
Jaiswal was dealing in boundaries and was joined by skipper Sanju Samson. The final over of the powerplay produced 21 runs with Jaiswal hammering three fours and a six.
The 50 partnership was up for the second wicket after Samson added three fours. Holder put an end to the 64-run stand by having the RR skipper caught at deep point.
Devdutt Padikkal immediately got going with a four and a six and RR were 90/2 at the halfway stage. Ayush Badoni scalped a wicket in the 12th over after taking a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Jaiswal.
Bishnoi joined the wickets tally after Padikkal’s slog sweep failed to clear the ropes in the 14th over.
Neesham joined Riyan Parag and the duo added two fours and a six in the next three overs. RR were 149/4 before they lost two wickets in the 18th over. While Riyan Parag holed out to the deep, Neesham was run-out for 14.
Trent Boult crunched consecutive fours in the penultimate over as RR added 24 runs in the final two overs which helped them register a first innings total of 178/6.
Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 178/6 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 41, Devdutt Padikkal 39; Ravi Bishnoi 2-31) beat Lucknow Super Giants 154/8 (Deepak Hooda 59, Marcus Stoinis 27; Trent Boult 2-18) by 24 runs.
