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.
Led by skipper Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel's impressive half-centuries, the Royals clinched their fourth consecutive win of the season as they successfully chased down the 197-run target with 6 balls to spare.
Openers Gone
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.
In a sudden turn, RR lost both their openers within two balls as Marcus Stoinis claimed Jaiswal's wicket on the first ball of the 7th over. Jaiswal had contributed 24 runs off 18 balls before his dismissal.
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.
The Samson-Jurel Winning Run-Stand
In their skipper Samson (71*) and Dhruv Jurel (52*), the visitors found another strong partnership as the duo stitched a 121 off 62 ball run-stand. Samson then brought up his 50 off 28 balls with a colossal six in the 18th over of the game while Jurel followed suit, notching his fifty off 31 balls in the same over. The RR skipper then sealed the victory for his side with another maximum, guiding them to a comprehensive 7-wicket win.
LSG vs RR: Sanju Samson then brought up his 50 off 28 balls with a colossal six in the 18th over of the chase.
Image: BCCI
The Captain's Knock
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.
Rahul blasted a 48-ball 76, reaching a cautious half-century off 31 balls, while Hooda scored a 31-ball 50 as LSG recovered from a precarious 11/2 in the second over to post a good score.
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.
Stoinis' Duck Dismissal
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.
Hooda's Cameo
Hooda drove, cut, swept and used the switch-hit well to score an exact fifty, hitting Boult for boundaries off successive balls. His four off Chahal in the 12over was his best shot of the night as he hammered seven fours in his 31-ball 50.
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.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)