Teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi came in as Impact Player and played the perfect role of the finisher. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was explosive as he tore the bowling attack of LSG. He took his time and then exploded. Earlier in the evening, LSG batted first and, on the back of a brilliant 96 from Mitchell Marsh and a 60-odd from Josh Inglis, helped LSG post a massive 220/5 in 20 overs. Sandeep Sharma is also being taken to the cleaners.
In reply, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi blazed away while Jaiswal was the aggressor of the two. But soon, Vaibhav changed gears and got to an excellent fifty. Dhruv Jurel chipped in with an unbeaten 53 runs, while the others did not have to do much. RR thrashed LSG by 7 wickets with 5 balls left to climb upwards to 4th in the table.
Mitchell Marsh & Josh Inglis Power LSG to a challenging 220/5
Put into bat first, the dynamic duo of Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis came out to open for LSG while Jofra Archer had the ball in hand for RR. Both the openers were in form coming into this clash, and they carried it on over here. It was the Marsh-Inglis show as they tore apart the RR attack. It was an attack from both ends as none of the bowlers was spared. The power play well and truly belonged to the two batters. Both were aggressive, with Inglis being the more aggressive of the two.
Both complemented each other really well as 83 runs were scored in the first six overs of power play. The duo carried on beyond that and brought up a century run stand as well in double quick time. Inglis and Marsh were on a roll and had put on 109 for the first wicket in 8.1 overs before Inglis fell for 60 off 29 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes to his name as he was cleaned up by Yash Punja. Nicholas Pooran came out to bat next as the run rate started to dip after Inglis dismissal.
Mitchell Marsh tried to keep up with the tempo. He did so and was playing a blinder. Pooran tried to support him as the duo managed to forge a 42-run stand off 24 balls before Pooran fell trying to go for the big one and finished with 16 off 11 balls with 2 sixes to his name to Punja. Rishabh Pant, the captain and keeper-batter, came out to bat next. It was the Mitchell Marsh show from here as Pant took his time getting his eye in and then played some good shots.
Pant also contributed well while Marsh was dominating the proceedings. The duo managed to put on 64 for the 3rd wicket before Pant fell for 35 off 23 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name as he was run out while trying to scamper for a single and sent back as the bowler Archer knocked down the stumps. Abdul Samad came out to bat next. Just 5 runs were added to the tally before Marsh, trying to come back for the impossible second run to keep the strike for the final ball, was run out for 96 off 57 balls with 11 fours and 5 sixes to his name.
Ayush Badoni came out to bat next with one ball left and was cleaned up on the first ball by Archer for a golden duck. Samad remained unbeaten on 0 off 0 balls as LSG finished with a mammoth 220/5 in 20 overs. 13 extras given by the fielding side.
RR came back well with the ball after the initial onslaught by the openers. Yash Punja was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/35 in 4 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 1/39 in 4 overs. Sushant Mishra went for 46 runs in 4 overs. Sandeep Sharma finished with 0/43 in 3 overs. Brijesh Sharma finished with 0/44 in 4 overs. Dasun Shanaka finished with 0/10 in 1 over. So, this meant that the target for RR to keep their playoff hopes alive and under their control was 221 to win off 20 overs.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s blazing 93 powers RR to a win with 5 balls left to keep playoff hopes alive
Chasing a massive 221 for the win, captain for the night Yashasvi Jaiswal and impact player Vaibhav Sooryavanshi came out to open for RR while Akash Singh had the ball in hand for LSG. Akash bowled a horrendous first over to Jaiswal, and the over never ended. 23 came off the first over of the chase, and it was set up from thereon. Jaiswal was the aggressor early on, Vaibhav took his time and got his eye in while Jaiswal was going great guns.
The duo did really well in the power play. RR scored 71 in the power play of 6 overs. The duo added 75 for the first wicket inside 7 overs before Jaiswal fell for 43 off 23 balls with 8 fours and one six to his name to Akash Singh. Keeper batter Dhruv Jurel came out to bat next. From here, it was the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi show from hereon. Jurel complemented him well as the duo set about acing the middle phase and putting on a match-winning stand.
Vaibhav was just brutal now after the first wicket fell. He took the game away from the bowling side. Some of the shots that were played were astounding to say the least. The teenage sensation was brilliant. The duo put on 105 off 45 balls to turn the game on its head and took the score to 180 till Vaibhav fell for a magnificent 93 off 38 balls with 7 fours and 10 sixes to his name. Lhuan Dre-Pretorius came out to bat next.
The duo of Jurel and Pretorius added 16 runs for the third wicket before Pretorius fell for 7 off 6 balls as he was run out by Aysuh Badoni. Donovan Ferreira came out to bat next. The duo of Jurel and Ferreira made sure that no further wickets fell in the match. The required rate was under check, and they maintained it and coolly went about their business. There was no pressure on the two batters out there. The duo added a quickfire 29 unbeaten runs off 17 balls to seal the deal for the side.
Jurel got to his half-century as he held the innings together. Ferreira struck some lusty blows as well. The duo paced the chase well and got to the target in the end. In the end, the winning hit was the maximum over long-off as Jurel hit the winning runs. The duo took RR over the line in 19.1 overs. Jurel was unbeaten on 53 off 38 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes to his name, while Ferreira remained unbeaten on 16 off 10 balls with one four and one six to his name. RR finished with 225/3 in 19.1 overs. 13 extras given by the fielding side.
LSG had a tough outing with the ball in hand. Mohsin Khan finished with 1/31 in 4 overs. Akash Singh finished with 1/54 in 3 overs. Digvesh Rathi, the impact player, finished with 0/38 in 4 overs. Prince Yadav finished with 0/43 in 4 overs. Mayank Yadav finished with 0/50 in 4 overs. Shahbaz bowled one ball, and it went for the maximum as well. So, RR beats LSG by 7 wickets with 5 balls to spare to keep their hopes alive in their own destiny. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
So, RR with this win moves to 4th in the table with 14 points. Destiny is in their hands now, as a win on the final day will take them into the playoffs. RR next faces MI in Mumbai on Sunday afternoon. LSG has one game left, and that is the clash against PBKS on Saturday night in Lucknow. The next match features KKR up against MI at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, with the hosts aiming to win to keep their hopes alive. Let’s see how it goes as we get ready for this clash, as MI has nothing to lose.
Hoping for a good game with no rain around.
Also Read: RR vs LSG: LSG Aims To Spoil Party Of RR’s Play-Off Hopes