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Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) snatched the game away from Rajasthan Royals (RR) by ten runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday, April 19. In doing so, the KL Rahul-led side put an end to the Royals’ impressive three-match winning run in the Indian Premier League 2023.
The visiting team roared back in sensational fashion to win the contest from the jaws of defeat. Notably, Rajasthan were in a winning position, however, Lucknow proved their mettle towards the tail-end of the match to get back to winning ways.
Here are the Talking points of the RR vs LSG clash-
Royals’ disciplined bowling restricts LSG to 154
Rajasthan started off brilliantly as pacer Trent Boult got a maiden in his very first over to start off the contest. Despite the first wicket stand of 82 runs by KL Rahul and Kyle Mayers, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin got the breakthroughs to keep Royals ahead in the contest.
The spinner got Mayers and Deepak Hooda in the same over, whereas Sandeep Sharma, Jason Holder, and Boult got one wicket each to restrict LSG to a mere total of 154/7. Meanwhile, Mayers top-scored for the side with 51 runs off 42 balls before getting dismissed.
Jaiswal-Buttler raise vital stand
The Royals extended their domination as the opening duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler combined to score 87 runs between them. With this start, the home team was well on course to earn the victory. The opening pair played delicately but got the boundaries at regular intervals to keep LSG reeling in the chase. While Jaiswal got 44 off 35, Buttler, on the other hand, got 40 off 41 during the chase.
Stoinis strikes twice as Royals fall apart during chase
The Royals were well placed to earn a fourth win on the trot, especially after the big first-wicket stand by Buttler and Jaiswal. However, star all-rounder Marcus Stoinis’ twin blows sent the openers packing and got the game back for his side.
The dismissals of Jaiswal and Buttler marked the beginning of the end for RR in the contest as skipper Samson and explosive hitter Shimron Hetmyer headed back to the dugout for four runs collectively. Riyan Parag and Impact Player Devdutt Padikkal were unable to hit the ball for the big runs and saw the game slipping from their hands.
Avesh Khan, who was handed the responsibility to defend 19 runs off the final over, flourished by outrightly dominating against the home side. The pacer got two consecutive wickets and handed his side a win by ten runs.
Losing Captain, Sanju Samson said-
Obviously not great but we need to take the lessons and move on from here. With the batting line-up we have, that was a chaseable score. They bowled well, used the conditions well but I still believe it was a chaseable score. I was expecting something like this (the pitch), a bit of low bounce and I think we got something like that. We need to play smart cricket and we were going really well till about over 9-10. Then it was about getting one big over in the middle phase. They bowled well and when we tried to go hard, we lost wickets. (On learnings) Irrespective of whether you win or lose, you take lessons from the game. We did a good job restricting them to that score but learnings from there as well.
Winning captain, KL Rahul said-
I got hit by a throw by one of my teammates, so I am maybe doing something wrong as a captain (chuckles). At the 10-over mark, the message we sent out was that maybe 165 is a good total, so, let us try to get to 160. Did not have to set ourselves very high. They are a quality team, they have good bowlers. We fell 10 runs short maybe but we made it up with the ball in the end. There was no dew and that was fair on both teams. (On how they arrived at a par score) We came in yesterday and we were thinking 180 is a par score. Knowing the batters they have, the mindset was to get 15 runs extra. When Boult bowled the first over, me and Kyle had a chat and we said that the ball was not coming on. We assessed it quite well but if there were a couple more partnerships in the middle, we could have gotten more. (Turning point) That Samson run out and two wickets falling back-to-back lets you to come back into the game. RR’s top three-four are really strong and our plan was to get them out early, and it came via a run-out today.
Player of the Match, Marcus Stoinis said-
It was nice to get involved with the ball. There were not exact plans to get them out, it was about using the conditions and using my smarts as a bowler. (On his partnership with Pooran towards the end) That was what we identified. It was a tough wicket. It was about not setting your standards too high and understanding that we needed to put on a good total. You will have to ask the skipper (smiles) but I am good health-wise (to bowl regularly).
