In the 44th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by seven wickets at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
RR won the toss and opted to field first. The decision seemed correct as the visiting unit managed to keep LSG below 200 runs, which was the trend going on for a while in the IPL 2024. The likes of Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, and co. did a decent job with executing plans, which led to conceding 196/5 in the first inning.
While chasing, Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) and Jos Buttler (34) provided a decent start to RR, scoring 60 runs together in the powerplay. Nonetheless, the star of the evening was the visiting team’s skipper Sanju Samson (71*), who scored a magnificent unbeaten half-century and guided his team home with two points. Playing at a strike rate of 215, the right-handed batter smashed seven fours and four sixes. Along with him, Dhruv Jurel (52*) finally arrived in the IPL 2024 with a valiant fifty. The batter began his innings slowly but gradually boosted his strike rate with five fours and two sixes to script a perfect heist at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
For LSG, KL Rahul (76) began the innings on a high for the home team as he scored a scintillating half-century, which included eight fours and two sixes. Along with skipper KL, Deepak Hooda (50) was another batter to smack a fifty. Notably, both batters added 115 runs for the third wicket partnership. The unit had a decent end to its inning, with Nicholas Pooran (11), Ayush Badoni (18*) and Krunal Pandya (15*) scoring a few runs each.
With the ball in the second innings, Yash Thakur, Marcus Stoinis, and Amit Mishra picked up one wicket each.
Sandeep Sharma grabbed two wickets, while one wicket each was also taken by Trent Boult, Avesh Khan and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Skipper Samson was adjudged Player of the Match for his mindful knock with the bat. Following this result, RR have secured their eighth win of the season and are on edge to qualify for the playoffs.
Scorecard:
Lucknow Super Giants: 196/5, Overs 20, KL Rahul 76,Sandeep Sharma 2/31
Rajasthan Royals: 199/3, Overs 19, Sanju Samson 71*, Marcus Stoinis 1/3