Jaipur: For the second time in a week, Rajasthan Royals (RR) snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as they lost by two runs against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in a pulsating IPL match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Saturday.
Needing nine runs in the final over, the Royals were restricted to 178/5 while chasing a target of 181, much to the disappointment of the home crowd. While it was Delhi Capitals’ Mitchell Starc who did the damage on Wednesday, on Saturday it was Avesh Khan who shattered RR’s hopes with a superb 20th over.
Against DC, RR needed exactly the same number of runs—nine— from the last over, but Starc prevented Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel from scoring those runs and forced a Super Over, which was eventually won by DC.
Here too, RR committed hara-kiri towards the end. Once again, Hetmyer and Jurel were unsuccessful in completing the job after the earlier batters had laid a solid platform. Shubham Dubey also succumbed under pressure and couldn’t score six off the last three balls after the departure of Hetmyer.
Who’s that IPL player?
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s spectacular 74 (52b, 5×4, 4×6) went in vain. Till the time the opener was at the crease, RR were cruising. Needing 25 off the last three overs, RR looked in control, but Jaiswal was clean bowled on the first ball of the 18th over by Avesh Khan, adding a twist to the chase. Adding more tension to the home fans, Riyan Parag (39; 26b, 3×4, 2×6) was trapped in front of the wickets in the same over by Avesh as the batter tried to sweep the ball.
Suryavanshi makes instant impact
RR got off to a flying start and were 61 for no loss after the end of the Powerplay with both Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi going great guns. The left-handed duo dealt mostly in boundaries to put the LSG bowlers on the backfoot.
Playing his first match, Suryavanshi launched himself in a grand manner with a rollicking 20-ball 34. The 14-year-old, the youngest-ever IPL debutant, tonked three sixes and a couple of fours to give the innings an early momentum. The teenage sensation marked his arrival at the big stage by hitting Shardul Thakur for six off the very first ball that he faced.
Earlier, after LSG opted to bat first, Ayush Badoni made an impact by slamming a quick-fire half-century. Coming into bat when LSG were struggling at 54/3 in the eighth over, Badoni (50: 34b, 5×4, 1×6) bailed out his side along with Aiden Markram (66: 45b, 5×4, 3×6) by adding 76 runs for the fourth wicket.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 180/5 (Aiden Markram 66; Ayush Badoni 50; Abdul Samad 30*; Wanindu Hasaranga 2/31) beat Rajasthan Royals 178/5 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 74, Riyan Parag 39, Vaibhav Suryavanshi 34; Avesh Khan 3/37) by two runs.
