LUCKNOW: An inconsistent batting continued to haunt Lucknow Super Giants as they suffered their third consecutive home defeat in the IPL, their fifth overall loss this season in seven games, going down to Rajasthan Royals by 40 runs here on Wednesday.
LSG had done well to restrict RR to 159/6, but their chase never got going and they were bundled out for 119 in 17.5 overs.
Chasing 160, LSG suffered an early collapse and never recovered. They lost three wickets inside the Powerplay and were reduced to 31/3, with Rishabh Pant among the early dismissals. The pressure mounted as RR’s bowlers regularly took wickets, preventing LSG from building any meaningful partnerships.
Jofra Archer kept LSG batters on their toes with his speed and bounce, finishing with 3/20. Other pacers, Nandre Burger and Brijesh Sharma, also proved tough for the home batters to handle.
Barring opener Mitchell Marsh, who struck his maiden half-century of this IPL season, and a small contribution from an off-colour Nicholas Pooran, the home side’s batting lacked clarity and composure. After early setbacks, LSG kept losing wickets and failed to use the conditions to their advantage, eventually folding for their lowest score of the season. RR’s bowlers stayed relentless, and the fielders backed them up with sharp work to close out a dominant away win.
Rajasthan Royals were in trouble early after being asked to bat on the quick and bouncy mixed soil turf of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium. Mohammed Shami struck twice in quick succession to dent the top order, while Mohsin Khan also chipped in to keep the pressure on. RR slipped to 44/3 in the power play and then to 54/3 before losing more wickets at regular intervals, leaving the innings in danger of falling apart.
Teen sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi started off with smashing back-to-back boundaries off Prince Yadav’s first over, but the pacer hit back with three dot balls, beating him twice with vicious bouncers. Sooryavanshi’s frustration boiled over against Mohsin Khan, who delivered a maiden over to claim his wicket. It was Vaibhav’s second-lowest score this season, after a duck against Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier.
Yashasvi Jaiswal sparkled briefly, greeting Shami with a boundary in the first over, then unleashing three consecutive fours. Undeterred, Shami fired a bouncer that Jaiswal top-edged, only for Rishabh Pant to pull off a stunning fingertip catch. Shami struck again immediately, castling Dhruv Jurel with the next ball with Pant pouching another sharp take as RR slumped early.
The biggest rescue act came from Ravindra Jadeja, who played a composed unbeaten innings of 43 off 29 balls. Jadeja held one end together through the middle and late overs, first adding 33 runs with Donovan Ferreira for the sixth wicket and then finishing with a decisive unbeaten 49-run stand alongside Shubham Dubey.
In fact, Dubey provided the final flourish with 19 not out off 11 balls, while the pair lifted RR past 150 in the closing overs. Jadeja was particularly severe on Mayank Yadav in the final over, striking him for 20 runs as RR finished on 159/6, a total that looked modest early on but became competitive because of the late acceleration. Yadav remained wicketless, conceding 56 runs at an economy of 14.00.
LSG’s bowlers shared the wickets, with Shami doing the early damage and Mohsin maintaining control in the middle phase. Their disciplined effort kept RR from posting a bigger score, but the total still proved enough because of LSG’s poor response with the bat.
