In the 26th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 10 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
RR won the toss and elected to bowl first. LSG had a great start with the bat in the first innings as both openers, KL Rahul (39) and Kyle Mayers (51), smashed RR bowlers all around the park. While captain scored just four fours and one six, Mayers was at his ultimate best with four fours and three sixes. Both the batters added 82 runs for the first wicket partnership. After decent middle overs, Marcus Stoinis (21) and Nicholas Pooran (29) took LSG to a respectable score of 154/7 in 20 overs.
In the chase, RR started well on their home turf as both the openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal (44) and Jos Buttler (40), continued their purple patch. Both the batters scored 87 runs for the first wicket partnership. Following their wickets, none of the other batter could match their performance and thus eventually failed to take two points from this match by 10 runs.
Avesh Khan showed his class with the ball as be managed to claim three wickets. Two wickets were also picked by Marcus Stoinis while defending in the second innings.
For RR, Ravichandran Ashwin bagged two wickets. One wicket each was also taken by Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma and Jason Holder.
Marcus Stoinis was awarded with the Player of the Match award for his scintillating all-round performance. Following this victory, LSG have won their fourth game of the season and are now placed second in the points tally.
Scorecard:
Lucknow Super Giants: 154/7, Overs 20, Kyle Mayers 51, Ravichandran Ashwin 2/23
Rajasthan Royals: 144/6, Overs 20, Yashasvi Jaiswal 44, Avesh Khan 3/25