Led by unbeaten half-centuries by Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel, Rajasthan Royals continued their victory march in IPL 2024, picking up an eighth win from nine games. Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel added an unbeaten 121-run stand for the fourth wicket to help Royals beat Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets in Lucknow, overhauling the total with an over to spare.
Sanju Samson joined forces with an out-of-form Dhruv Jurel, both batters scoring half-centuries in a 121-run riposte to LSG’s hundred partnership between KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda, and took Royals to victory with an over to spare.
Pitch and Toss
It’s cooling down as we get into the evening here in Lucknow. 66m and 73m square boundaries while the straight boundary is massive at 80m. It’s an incredible lush outfield, the wicket is made up of black clay and it means it’s not a friend of the spinners There are large chink of cracks, so there could be some movement for the pacers.
There is a nice grass covering and the brown patches are well rolled as well. Expect more runs, 200+ runs have been scored by the team batting first, the average 1st innings score has gone up to 170+ this season and we can expect runs on this surface, opine Matthew Hayden and Ian Bishop, in their pitch report
Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and chose to field first with no changes in the team. Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul batting first also decided to play with the same team.
RR strike early as Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma took wickets in the PowerPlay
Rajasthan Royals had another good showing in the powerplay as Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma struck once each with the moving ball shattering the stumps; Quinton de Kock beaten on the outside edge and Marcus Stoinis on the inside. It was one of the duller powerplays in recent days as not a single six was hit during this period as KL Rahul attempted to bail his side from a stuttering start.
Trent Boult did what he almost always does – strike in the first over. Quinton de Kock had begun the match with boundaries off the first two balls, but had his stumps shattered by the third. And in the second over Sandeep Sharma swerved the ball through the gap between Stoinis’ bat and pad as he attempted to drive and bowled him.
KL Rahul, Hooda century stand revives LSG after stuttering start.
After losing two early wickets, KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda brought the momentum in LSG”s favour courtesy a 115-run stand for the third wicket. Without putting too much emphasis on brute force, the duo scored at a brisk pace through the middle overs. While Yuzvendra Chahal went wicketless for the first time this season, Hooda eventually became R Ashwin’s second victim of the season, falling right after bringing up his half-century.
LSG were 11 for 2 when Hooda joined his captain Rahul, and they went about the recovery at brisk pace, counterattacking by smashing four boundaries in the last two overs of the powerplay. Rahul then took Avesh for 21 in the eighth over, whipping and swinging for six over midwicket and fine leg, and pulling a free-hit for four more.
LSG were 94 for 2 at the halfway stage, with Rahul reaching 50 off 31 balls. He and Hooda continued the offensive, picking up 32 off the next two overs. Hooda got to his half-century from 30 deliveries before holing out to a carrom-ball from Ashwin to end his partnership with Rahul on 115 off 62 balls.
LSG fail to get the late flourish as they finish at 196 for 5 after 20 overs
Despite having a strong foundation for the death overs, LSG failed to maximize the advantage. The ball was holding on a touch, and with a long boundary to challenge, no six was scored in the death overs while only two balls reached the fence in the last five overs. Rahul and Nicholas Pooran departed during this phase without being able to make much of an impact. Krunal Pandya and Ayush Badoni threw their bats around for a bit in a 16-ball stand, but managed to add only 23 runs.
With eight overs to go and plenty of wickets in hand, LSG were primed for a strong finish, but it did not happen for them. Even though they lost only two more wickets, they were those of Nicholas Pooran and Rahul – for 76 off 48 balls – and LSG were able to score only 25 runs in the last three overs of their innings.
RR Openers depart after quick start
Yashaswi Jaiswal cut loose in the first over of the chase, smoking Matt Henry for a six and a four off successive deliveries. Jos Buttler joined him in the act soon as the destructive opening pair took control of the proceedings. They brought up the half-century in only five overs. However, a few deliveries on either side of 36th ball of the innings, both the openers departed, leaving the momentum in the balance.
The target of 197 that Lucknow Super Giants set Rajasthan Royals may not have seemed like much at the end of the first innings. After all, over the last four days, targets of 262 and 211 had been chased comfortably, while totals of 257 and 225 were also nearly overrun.
But even so, RR were in a tricky situation at 78 for 3 after 8.4 overs, after ending the powerplay 60 for 1. Ten overs into the chase, with RR needing 116, ESPNCricinfo’s forecaster gave LSG an 87.76% chance of winning. But then Sanju Samson joined forces with an out-of-form Dhruv Jurel.
Sanju Samson shepherds the chase in the middle
For a few overs after the powerplay, Rajasthan Royals’ scoring rate was kept in check, with Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag and later Dhruv Jurel taking some time to get going early on in their innings. However, in the 11th over, Sanju Samson took down Amit Mishra, who had come in as the Impact Substitute, for a boundary and a six. Soon enough, Jurel also joined the act broke free against Yash Thakur and Mohsin Khan. He had his share of luck, getting dropped by the former twice at short third in the 14th over.
Jos Buttler and Yashaswi Jaiswal had added 60 off 34 balls. But with two deliveries of the powerplay remaining, Buttler was bowled by Yash Thakur – moving across his crease and missing a full toss that crashed into the base of leg stump. In the next over, Marcus Stoinis had Jaiswal caught at deep cover.
LSG had chosen a black-soil pitch for this contest and brought on 41-year-old leg spinner Amit Mishra for the first time this season as the Impact Player. He accounted for RR’s Impact Player – Riyan Parag – having him caught at deep cover too soon after conceding a six. RR were in trouble then but Sanju Samson and Jurel led them out of it.
While Sanju Samson began his innings with form on his side – he was among the top-scorers of the season – Jurel had managed only ten runs in his previous three innings across six matches. They took their time, scoring only three runs off the first eight balls of their partnership, before ransacking the next two overs for 29 runs. Jurel launched Mishra for a six and chipped Thakur for four, while Sanju Samson also got three boundaries.
There were a few cracks on the pitch in Lucknow, with the ball expected to turn off them. The soil was black too, which has historically been more spin-friendly. When LSG batted, RR’s spinners R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal combined for figures of 8-0-80-1. The solitary wicket was Ashwin’s – Deepak Hooda caught at wide long-on – and it was only his second wicket in eight games this season.
LSG’s spinners didn’t have much success during the chase either, even though there wasn’t much dew, with Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi and Mishra bowing a total of seven overs for figures of 1 for 60. While Krunal bowled quicker and flatter to concede only 24 from his four overs, Mishra and Bishnoi proved expensive.
Sanju Samson takes over the charge to guide RR to yet another victory
Sanju Samson and Jurel broke little sweat as they overcame the target with an over to spare. Both the batters brought up their respective half-centuries enroute an unbeaten 121-run stand for the fourth wicket. Sanju Samson, who had played the second fiddle to Jurel through the middle overs, took over the attack as Royals closed in on the target.
It started with taking apart Ravi Bishnoi in the 16th over, slog sweeping the leggie for a boundary and a six before hitting him down the ground. Towards the closing stages, even Thakur and Mohsin were sent on a leather hunt.
The 14th over, from left-arm quick Mohsin Khan, proved to be the turning point of the game. Jurel was dropped twice in that over by Thakur and hit three fours and a six, eventually finishing unbeaten on 52 off 34 balls. Sanju Samson’s innings was less fraught with risk and he ended the match with a six over fine leg to remain not out on 71 off only 33 deliveries.
The result was Royals’ eighth win in nine games, taking them six points clear of Kolkata Knight Riders in second place, and has all but assured them of a place in the playoffs with five games in hand.
Presentations and Road Ahead
KL Rahul the loosing captain said :
“I think we left about 20 runs behind. We didn’t get an ideal start but with the partnership me and Hooda had was great. In these sorts of games, the set batter had to score close to a hundred after getting to 50-60. I think we were 150 after about 15 overs, should have capitalized on it a bit more. I think it is clear the team with more sixes ends up winning,”
“We do try to hit our sixes but today we had to change our approach after those two early wicket. If Hooda pushed on and scored 20 more, and I got 20 more then we’d finish around 220. That would have been the difference, that’s the 20 runs we left behind. We’re seeing with every game how important it is to give the bowlers that extra cushion because they are under the pump. Everyone loves range hitting and hitting it all over the park, we are no different,” he stated.
“It is part of the prep. Our big hitters are Stoinis and Pooran who can hit those big shots. The other guys like us try to pick our areas and time the shots better. (On Mishra and Bishnoi) There is a bit of chat before the game with the numbers and how opposition players match-up. Mishra is an experienced player and today was a day we knew he could be useful with how slow he bowls and with the larger boundaries,” he added.
“Once the runs kept flowing, they put pressure on our bowlers. There were 2-3 overs when Krunal bowled really well and squeezed them but then they attacked the fast bowlers. I couldn’t get a good time to get Bishnoi, wanted to keep him for the backend when Rovman and Hetmyer came out to bat because we know he can bowl well to them,” he concluded.
Sanju Samson the winning skipper and Player of the match for his 71 runs said : :
“I am very lucky to be behind the wickets. There was some purchase with the new ball and then was a good wicket to bat on. The guys who came in and bowl one over in the power-play do an important job. There has been a lot of planning behind the scenes,”
“The start and the end of the innings was good. We gave away a few in the middle overs. Form is temporary in this format. We have seen Jurel in Tests. We believe in him. He has been batting one hour and two hours at times in the nets. We have been doing really well. We have been a little lucky as well. We need to keep the process right. At the team meetings, we talk about ticking the processes. One game at a time for us,” he stated.
RR win again! Yawn. They are making it look so easy. Have we travelled back to 2008!!! Their skipper at the forefront of it. Sanju Samson led from the front with the bat and stayed till the end to score 71 off 33 balls. He rarely put a foot wrong. Jurel at the other end played a few fancy shots but got a few chances and notched up his fifty. The LSG team didn’t have the plans in place once these two got going and looked a little out of ideas. Someone as good as Bishnoi ended up bowling only one over.
This after LSG fought back towards the end of the powerplay when they picked up three wickets for a few runs. Buttler and Jaiswal started off on fast lanes which eased the pressure at the start. But post the three wickets that went down, Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel took charge. LSG with their batting efforts had Rahul and Hooda laying the platform for them. They managed 196 and it was a very decent score.
But Rahul and men got it wrong with their bowling moves. They introduced Amit Mishra as their impact player and he delivered as well in his first over. But he went for a few runs in his second. That in a way delayed the entry point of Bishnoi who ended up bowling only one over. Krunal at the other end however was very accurate and gave away only 24 in his four overs.
The pacers – Yash Thakur and Mohsin – looked very clueless and gave away plenty of runs. Thakur’s second over started off the assault for RR who found pace easy to deal with at that point of time
RR have been a seamless in their performances. They have been running on auto mode. Opponents on the road have failed to stop them. One of those rare teams who have been superb away from home. LSG came into this on the back of two excellent wins against CSK but they have been stopped.
And that too at home. RR with this win have booked one of the top four places for sure. And they still have five more games to go. Speaks volumes about their dominance. Remember, they were finalists in 2022 as well. But given their form in this edition, that one final step might happen! LSG have made it two play-offs and they still look good for another one. But they will have to brush up their execution a little and comeback stronger next time.
LSG despite the loss are still at fourth on the table. Royals will fly to Hyderabad to face SRH on May 2 while LSG will stay in Lucknow for their clash against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday (April 30)