JAIPUR: Lucknow Super Giants beat high-flying Rajasthan Royals by 10 runs in a nail-biting match in IPL 2023 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, here on Wednesday night.
After restricting Lucknow Super Giants at 154 runs, the former champion Royals missed the advantage of a good opening stand and could score 144 runs in allotted overs losing 6 wickets.
Openers Jos Buttler (40) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (44) added 87 runs in 11.3 overs to build the foundation, but lost four quick wickets in space of 17 runs. They need 19 runs from the last over which was bowled by Avesh Khan. Riyan Parag hit a boundary in the first ball, but Khan took back to back wickets of Devdutt Padikkal (26) and Dhruv Jurel. Riyan remained unbeaten at 15 from 12 balls.
Earlier, a neat bowling performance helped Rajasthan Royals restrict Lucknow Super Giants to 154/7 despite Kyle Mayers' fighting fifty.
On a pitch which has not been easy for stroke-play, Lucknow did not lose a wicket in the powerplay but made only 37 runs.
From there, Rajasthan bowlers, led by Ravichandran Ashwin's 2/23 and a terrific last over from Sandeep Sharma, kept things tight. Despite some big overs, Lucknow never got the desired finishing kick, with Mayers being the standout performer though he struggled to time the ball for a large part of his stay at the crease.
At 129/4 in 18 overs, with the last four overs yielding only 25 runs, Nicholas Pooran attacked Holder by dispatching him over long-leg for six, followed by flicking and slicing for a brace of fours as 17 runs came off the 19th over.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 154/7 in 20 overs (Kyle Mayers 51, KL Rahul 39; Ravichandran Ashwin 2/23, Trent Boult 1/16) beat Rajasthan Royals 144/6 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 40, Yashasvi Jaiswal 44, Padikkal 26, Avesh Khan 3/25, Marcus Stoinis 2/28). Agencies
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