Gutsy Rajasthan Royals manage to beat listless Lucknow Super Giants
RR – 159/6 (Ravindra Jadeja 43* off 29 balls) beat LSG – 119 all out (Jofra Archer 20/3 off 4 overs) by 40 runs
Man of the Match: Ravindra Jadeja
Two teams with big names, decent bowlers and a misfiring middle order. The IPL league match between LSG and RR was thus won by the team with slightly more in-form batsmen and better all-rounders. A scrappy performance with the bat, aided by a responsible knock of 43 off 29 balls from Jadeja, helped RR to set a target of 160 in front of LSG. The bowlers, led by Jofra Archer, put up the squeeze and took regular wickets to restrict LSG and win by 40 runs.
Rapid start and steady wickets
LSG won the toss and decided to field first. The red soil pitch in Lucknow was a bit more bowler-friendly than other venues and was expected to aid the faster bowlers more. The LSG bowlers took their time to find the correct line and length. Sami bowled a rubbish ball on the leg in the first over to be glanced for a boundary past fine leg, and Prince Yadav bowled either too full or too short to be dispatched for three boundaries in the second over, though one of them was due to an overthrow from an overenthusiastic Mohsin Khan. In a lower-scoring match, these lapses would prove to be even more critical to the outcome.
RR openers Jaiswal and Sooryavanshi had started well and were looking more assured with each passing over. Jaiswal pumped Sami for three consecutive boundaries in the second over and was looking dangerous when a great piece of cricket got him out. Sami bowled an accurate bouncer, which Jaiswal tried to pull and managed to get a slight glove to it. Rishabh Pant jumped and took a spectacular catch to send the batsman packing for 22 off 12 balls. Next ball, Jurel got an unplayable ball swinging away and had to play at it, but managed to get a nick to be caught by the keeper. Mohsin Khan bowled next and kept Sooryavanshi quiet for the entire duration of the over. Sooryavanshi, growing increasingly frustrated, attempted a lavish slog over long on and only managed to get an outside edge high on the off side, with two fielders running back from inside the circle, seemingly heading for an almighty collision. Pooran called loud and first, only to see Digvesh Rathi completely ignore him and manage to complete a very good catch.
RR were 32/3 in 4 overs and the two new batsmen were Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer. Neither had been in the best of form and they played conservatively to rebuild the innings. Parag played an attractive pickup shot off a Mayank leg side ball for a well-timed six, but couldn’t carry on for long. He fell to a mistimed swing to a Prince Yadav full ball to be caught at wide long on.
Mayank Yadav, returning to the LSG camp, was having a horror day. His pace was up there, but line and length were all over the place. The faster he bowled, the quicker the ball seemed to be travelling to the boundary. He was picked up for 14 runs by Hetmyer in his second over. Hetmyer was dismissed for 22 off 18 balls as he got a leading edge off Prince Yadav to be caught at mid-off. RR were 80/5 after 11 overs and were in danger of getting bowled out.
Lower order rebuilding
With 9 overs remaining and half the side gone, Jadeja and Ferreira started cautiously. LSG’s outfielding was poor, and they could have dismissed Ferreira twice in three overs with better awareness. In the 12th over, Ferreira had pulled a Sami bouncer high at deep square leg and should have been caught out had the fielder been in position. Instead, Mayank was standing well inside the shorter boundaries, and the ball flew over his head for four. Again, in the 14th over, a misunderstanding between the batsmen while going for a second run had Ferreira stranded. But Pant first broke the stumps with his hand to receive a very poor throw from the fielder. With the batsman still nowhere close, Mukul fumbled with the ball and broken stumps to fluff a simple run-out chance. In between all these, the LSG team also managed to be in prime contention for the worst DRS review ever, as they burned an LBW review against Jadeja, with the ball hitting the pad at least half a foot outside the leg stump.
Ferreira was finally dismissed at third man by a slower delivery from an impressive Prince Yadav for an important 20 off 19 balls. Shubham Dubey came in as an impact sub and scored an energetic 19 off 11 balls. Jadeja, who had been quite sedate so far, opened up in the last over by Mayank and plundered 20 runs to remain unbeaten on 43 off 29 balls, and RR reached 159/6.
LSG start on the wrong foot
Badoni opened the batting instead of Markram, along with Marsh and was run out in the first ball he faced, going for a non-existent single and beaten by the direct hit. This is the problem with frequently reshuffling the batting order, where the batsmen are unaware of each other’s running. The opening bowlers Archer and Burger were bowling with good pace and bounce. Pant went for an extravagant sweep off a length ball and was edged by Burger behind for a duck. Markram became the third batsman to be dismissed for 0 as he top-edged a shortish ball from Archer to be caught by the keeper. LSG were 11/3 in 2.5 overs and reeling.
Marsh stands tall but lacks support
Pooran was the next man in and struggled to find any flow. His miserable IPL season continued as he mishit a Jadeja length ball straight to long on. Himmat Singh was sent next as the impact sub, and he managed to support Marsh at the other end for close to 5 overs, but was outfoxed by Bishnoi to be bowled for 15 runs.
Amongst all the carnage at the other end, Marsh was near his punishing best. He saw the wickets fall at the other end, but continued muscling the ball to the boundaries, especially in front of the wicket. He reached his half-century off 39 balls with a flat-batted six off Burger, but was dismissed in the same over as he could not time the wide, slower ball and sent it straight up to be caught at cover region for 55 off 41 balls.
Marsh’s contribution and the lowish score in the first innings meant that, despite losing wickets, the required rate was never impossibly high. 49 was required off 24 balls, with Mukul still at the crease. But a short ball from Brijesh Sharma got big on Mukul as he tried to slap it towards the long off boundary and managed to give a simple chance to cover. The long LSG tail meant that, with Shami, Mayank, Rathi, and Mohsin as the remaining batsmen, the match was gone. There was enough time for Jurel to take another brilliant catch of Mayank Yadav as Archer cleaned off the tail to finish at 20/3, and RR won by 40 runs.
RR would still look for improvement, especially their middle-order batting, but will be pleased with their bowling performance. Similarly, LSG had a good day as a bowling unit, but were let down by their batting and fielding. Next match should bring about some major changes in their combination, or they are well on their way to compete with KKR at the bottom of the table.