Rajasthan Royals returned to winning ways by defeating Lucknow Super Giants by 40 runs at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, April 22.
On Tuesday, Rishabh Pant won the toss and invited the visiting team to bat first. After hitting three consecutive fours in the third over, Mohammed Shami dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel on back-to-back balls. Mohsin Khan then took a wicket as Rajasthan lost their strong top three wickets with just 32 runs on the board.
Ryan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer tried to revive the ship by putting together a 30-run partnership in as many balls. However, both were dismissed in the 20s. Ravindra Jadeja and Donovan Ferreira once again had to save the innings. The latter was out after scoring 20 runs in 19 balls and Rajasthan decided to send Shubham Dubey as an impact player to add some crucial runs. The move worked wonders as Dubey scored 19 runs in 11 balls. Jadeja also made a good contribution by scoring 43* runs in 29 balls.
In reply, Lucknow had a very bad start and Ayush Badoni was run out in the very first over. To make matters worse, captain Pant lost his wicket in the second over, leaving Lucknow's score at 10/2. However, the problems did not end there for the home team as Aiden Markram was out in the third over.
When three of your top three batsmen are out on ducks, it is very difficult to win the game, especially on a sluggish track. Nicholas Pooran tried to give himself some time at the crease but after lasting 25 balls, only 22 runs were scored. Mitchell Marsh tried to take the innings forward by playing an inning of 55 runs in 41 balls. However, Nandre Berger gave his team a big success by dismissing him in the 16th over.
The lower order could not contribute much as the Royals bowlers got a chance to field in the middle. In the end the host team was out for 119 runs in 18 overs.
Key moments of the match:
1. Ravindra Jadeja told the value of experience
When Rajasthan's score was 62/4 in the ninth over, Ravindra Jadeja came to bat at number six. The experienced campaigner played the role of sheet anchor, handling the innings on a difficult pitch. Shubham Dubey came in as an impact player and scored a crucial 19* off 12 balls. In the final over, Jadeja took 20 runs off Mayank Yadav, who was playing his first match of the season.
2. Jofra Archer and Company wreaked havoc
Rajasthan would have been a few runs behind the equal score. However, their bowlers looked as if they had plenty of runs to defend. Nandre Berger and Joffra Archer bowled brilliantly with the new ball. Spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Bishnoi also played their roles well. Brijesh Sharma also made good use of his versatility and took two wickets. Archer was the best bowler taking three wickets for 20 runs in four overs.
3. Mohammed Shami turns the clock back
Mohammed Shami once again showed that he is still at this level. He dismissed in-form batsmen Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel on two balls which were almost impossible to play. Shami bowled three overs inside the power play and one over in the middle and finished with figures of 2/30. The way they bowled against a strong batting team was a rare ray of hope for Lucknow in this game.
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