Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 20 runs in yesterday’s IPL 2024 match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Batting first after winning the toss, RR put up 193/4 on the board as skipper Sanju Samson starred with 82* off 52 balls. In the chase, LSG were restricted to 173/6 despite half-centuries from Nicholas Pooran (64* off 41) and captain KL Rahul (58 off 44).
Samson, Riyan shine in batting
Batting first, Rajasthan lost both their openers cheaply as Jos Buttler (11) nicked Naveen-ul-Haq to the keeper, while Yashasvi Jaiswal (24 off 12) hit one from Mohsin Khan straight to mid-on. RR skipper Samson and Riyan Parag (43 off 29) featured in an entertaining third-wicket stand of 93. Parag slammed one four and three sixes before he got out at deep backward square leg off Naveen-ul-Haq’s bowling. Shimron Hetmyer fell cheaply for 5 off 7, caught behind off leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi. Samson, in the company of Dhruv Jurel (20* off 12), provided Rajasthan Royals with the final flourish as the duo added an unbroken 43 for the fifth wicket. While the RR captain hit three fours and as many as six sixes, Jurel contributed one four and one maximum.
LSG batters were not upto the mark
Chasing 194, Lucknow Super Giants got off to a disastrous start, losing their first three wickets with only 11 runs on the board. Quinton de Kock (4) chipped on from Trent Boult straight to fine leg, while Devdutt Padikkal was knocked over by the RR left-arm pacer for a duck. Ayush Badoni (1) then chipped a length ball from Nandre Burger to mid-off. Deepak Hooda came in as the impact player and hammered a quick-fire 26 off 13 balls. He, however, fell into the trap of Yuzvendra Chahal, slamming a lofted delivery to deep midwicket. Rahul and Pooran brought LSG back into the game with a fourth-wicket stand of 85 runs. The momentum, however, shifted at the start of the 17th over as Rahul was caught at deep point, trying to go after a wide delivery from Sandeep Sharma. Marcus Stoinis (3) was then caught at deep point off Ravichandran Ashwin’s bowling. Pooran was helpless as he was unbeaten till the end but ended up losing the game.
Sandeep Sharma’s game changing spell
Sandeep Sharma was the game changer for Rajasthan Royals. As the veteran bowler bowled tight lines consistently. His spell of 3-21 was turning point into the context of the game. His slower balls, knuckle balls, bouncers were very difficult to hit. His spell was lauded by the skipper as in the post match presentation , he praised Sandeep Sharma for his amazing match winning spell. He clarified that Sandeep is their death bowler and he will bowl mostly in the death overs.
Rajasthan Royals will now face Delhi Capitals on 28 March where as Lucknow Super Giants will play against Punjab Kings on 30 March.
Kevin Varchand