Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 10 runs in the IPL here on Wednesday, thanks to the fine performance of the bowlers after the half-century of opener Kyle Myers. Chasing the Supergiants’ target of 155, the Royals’ first wicket between openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (44 off 35 balls, four fours, two sixes) and Jos Buttler (40 off 41 balls, four fours, one six) Despite the 87-run partnership, could only manage 144 runs for six wickets.
For Supergiants, Avesh Khan took three wickets for 25 runs while Marcus Stoinis took two wickets for 28 runs. Naveen-ul-Haq bowled economically, conceding only 19 runs in four overs but did not get a wicket.
Earlier, the team of Supergiants scored 154 runs for seven wickets with the half-century of Myers (51). Myers added 82 runs for the first wicket with captain Lokesh Rahul (39), who took advantage of two lives. Nicholas Pooran (29) and Marcus Stoinis (21) shared a 45-run partnership for the fifth wicket to take the score past 150 runs.
For the Royals, experienced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2/23) was the most successful bowler while Trent Boult (1/16) bowled economically. Chasing the target, the pair of Jaiswal and Butler got the Royals off to a good start. Both targeted fast bowler Yudhveer Singh.
Jaiswal hit two fours and a six on this fast bowler while Butler also took the ball across the boundary. Jaiswal also hit Avesh for two consecutive fours in the sixth over. However, he was lucky at the second boundary when Naveen failed to take a catch at short third man. Royals scored 47 runs without losing a wicket in the power play.
Jaiswal and Butler preferred to rotate the strike in the middle overs but also taught the bad balls a lesson. Butler meanwhile hit leg-spinners Ravi Bishnoi and Amit Mishra for fours and combined with Jaiswal to take the team’s score to 73 in 10 overs. Jaiswal hit a six over Marcus Stoinis but in the same over, he was caught by Avesh Khan at short third man. Captain Sanju Samson was run out after scoring just two runs after a misunderstanding with Butler.
Butler also played Stoinis’ ball straight to the boundary in the hands of Bishnoi in the next over, taking the Royals’ score from 87 without a wicket to 97 for three. The century of Royals’ runs was completed in the 15th over. The team needed 51 runs in the last five overs to win. Avesh gave his team a big success by getting the in-form Shimron Hetmyer (02) caught by captain Rahul. Devdutt Padikkal ends his 31-ball boundary drought with a four off Bishnoi.
Three runs were scored in Avesh’s over while six runs were scored in Bishnoi’s over, leaving the team needing 42 runs in the last three overs. Padikkal added 13 runs with three fours on Stoinis. Riyan Parag hit Naveen for a six in the next over but only 10 runs were scored in the over.
Royals needed 19 runs in the last over. Parag hit a four on the first ball of Avesh but on the third ball, Padikkal handed over the catch to wicketkeeper Pooran, which ended the right hope of the team’s victory. Earlier, Samson invited the Supergiants to bat after which the team got off to a slow start. Boult bowled the first over while the Supergiants could manage only 18 runs in four overs.
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Meanwhile, on the ball of Sandeep Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal dripped Rahul’s easy catch at extra cover. Myers hit Boult for the first six of the innings but Rahul was lucky for the second time in the same over. This time Jason Holder dropped his catch at mid-off. Supergiants scored 37 runs without losing a wicket in the power play. Myers took the team’s score to 50 runs in the eighth over with a six over Holder. In the next over of Yuzvendra Chahal, Myers hit sixes and fours in consecutive balls while Rahul also brought the ball into the audience, scoring 18 runs in the over.
Rahul then returned to the pavilion by playing Holder’s ball straight into the hands of Butler at long on. He hit four fours and a six in his 32-ball innings. In the next over, Boult bowled Ayush Badoni (01) and gave another blow to the Supergiants. Myers completed his half-century in 40 balls with two consecutive fours and then one run on Chahal.
In Ashwin’s next over, Deepak Hooda (02) was caught by Shimron Hetmyer at deep square leg in an attempt to play a big shot. Ashwin bowled Myers in the same over to score Supergiants 104 for four. Myers faced 42 balls and hit four fours and three sixes. Puran scored 17 runs in the 19th over with two fours and a six on Holder. The team added eight runs in the last over of Sandeep Sharma, losing three wickets including Pooran and Stoinis.
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