RR vs LSG: Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel's half-centuries propel RR to a comfortable victory over LSG by 7 wickets.
Image: BCCI
Rajasthan Royals (RR) secured a commanding 7-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Match 44 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, on Saturday, 27 April at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
The Royals launched into action with an explosive opening partnership of 60 runs in just 35 balls, led by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler. However, the momentum shifted when Yash Thakur took Buttler's wicket on the penultimate ball of the final powerplay over, with Buttler departing after a brisk 34 off 18 deliveries.
Lucknow found their third breakthrough with Riyan Parag's departure. After managing just 14 runs off 11 balls, Parag fell victim to Amit Mishra's bowling in the 9th over of the chase.
LSG vs RR: Sanju Samson then brought up his 50 off 28 balls with a colossal six in the 18th over of the chase.
Earlier, KL Rahul played a captain's knock and shared a 115-run partnership with Deepak Hooda, who too scored a fine half-century, as Lucknow Super Giants posted a par-score of 196/5.
Asked to bat first, LSG got off to a poor start as Quinton de Kock, after hitting back-to-back boundaries to Trent Boult in the first over, was cleaned up on the third ball by the left-handed New Zealand pacer with one that nipped back a bit and went past the opener's bat, which came down late, to crash into the stumps.
Sandeep Sharma, who claimed a five-wicket haul a few days ago, accounted for Marcus Stoinis on the last ball of his first over as the ball landed at full length, swung in and went past to disrupt the furniture as the batter tried to drive without getting to the pitch of the ball. LSG were down to 11/2 in the second over.
However, LSG recovered from the twin setbacks as skipper Rahul and Hooda raised 115 runs in quick time for the third wicket partnership. Rahul got his third half-century while Deepak Hooda got his first half-century in 19-odd matches.
Rahul hammered a brilliant 76 off 48 balls, hitting eight fours and two sixes. Just when it looked like he would reach the three-figure mark, Rahul got out as Avesh Khan got his revenge for the mistreatment he received from the LSG as Boult picked a simple catch at deep backward point.
Rajasthan Royals pulled back things a bit in the death overs, conceding seven and six runs in the 18th and 19th overs before Ayush Badoni (18 not out) and Krunal Pandya (15*) scored 12 runs off the final over to ensure they reached a par score on this ground.
With inputs from IANS.
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