Pacer Avesh Khan excelled at the death to deny Rajasthan Royals a facile win in Jaipur. It was their second bottlejob on the trot in a run chase, extending their losing streak to four matches.
What was the deciding factor?
The slog overs. RR had the game in their pocket heading into the final five overs, needing only 46 runs with a well-set Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag in the middle. LSG bowled extraordinarily at the back end to concede only 43 runs and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
A false start by Lucknow Super Giants
The onus to get Lucknow Super Giants off to a flying start has been on Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran this season. However, both the dynamos were sent packing early. Marsh got a leading edge off Jofra Archer and Pooran was outsmarted by Sandeep Sharma to be caught in front in the final over of the PowerPlay. Aiden Markram though looked in sublime nick as he found the boundary at regular intervals to keep the scorecard ticking despite the double whammy upfront.
Markram leads the recovery for Lucknow
LSG found themselves under the cosh as Rishabh Pant the batter’s woeful IPL 2025 campaign continued. He failed to make a clean connection on an attempted reverse sweep, gloving the ball behind to give Wanindu Hasaranga his first wicket. That brought LSG’s impact sub into the scheme of things as Ayush Badoni walked out to mend the innings. Having a good head on his young shoulders, Badoni appeared tailor-made for the repair job whereas Markram smashed back-to-back sixes off Hasaranga to inject some life into the innings. Badoni then kicked up a gear and demonstrated his range with successive boundaries off Sandeep as LSG started to turn a corner. Markram, who had crossed fifty by this time, slammed his third six as RR began to feel the pinch. Three tight overs, albeit, ensured LSG didn’t run amok but the platform was decently set for a big finish.
Abdul Samad delivers the finishing kick
Much to LSG’s chagrin, Royals consolidated the aridity they had created in the last three overs heading into the final phase of the innings. To make matters worse, both the half-centurions – Markram and Badoni – were gone as well as the hosts staged a fine comeback. At one point, it appeared like they might restrict LSG under 160, but Abdul Samad went berserk in the last over as he hit four towering sixes off Sandeep Sharma to stun the hosts. All the hard work from the RR bowlers up until that point lay to waste as LSG ended up with 180 on the board as a result of that expensive over.
Just the start the doctor ordered for Rajasthan Royals
It was a headstart that had everyone waxing lyrical of the talent on show. Making his IPL debut at the tender age of 14, Vaibhav Suryavanshi lofted his first ball in IPL over covers for an impressive six and soon thereafter hammered the first ball he faced from Avesh Khan for a huge six as well to make heads turn. At the other end, Yashasvi Jaiswal was at his explosive best as he took down pace and spin with aplomb. Markram was welcomed to the crease with successive sixes and the PowerPlay was rounded off with another lusty blow from Jaiswal as Royals kickstarted the chase in grand style.
𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆. 𝐀. 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 🫡
Welcome to #TATAIPL, Vaibhav Suryavanshi 🤝
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/02MS6ICvQl#RRvLSG | @rajasthanroyals pic.twitter.com/MizhfSax4q
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 19, 2025
Royals remain on course during middle overs
The southpaws continued to make merry on the other side of the PowerPlay as Ravi Bishnoi was subjected to a couple of boundaries and Digvesh Singh Rathi to a six. His sparkling debut finally concluded when Markram extracted some purchase from the deck to have him stumped. From thereon, Royals played percentage cricket. Jaiswal slowed down a wee bit after going past fifty and Nitish Rana was dismissed cheaply by Shardul Thakur. Riyan Parag took over the mantle of the aggressor as he kept chipping in with boundaries to bring the equation down to a manageable 46 off 30.
Avesh Khan sizzles in the slog overs
Taking strides towards victory, the Royals batters fetched a six and a four in the 16th over of the innings, bowled by Avesh. But just when it appeared as if win was in touching distance of the home side, Avesh delivered a brilliant over that saw him remove both Jaiswal and Parag with two inch-perfect shooters. Suddenly the target seemed a bit far. The equation narrowed to 17 off 9 which is when Shimron Hetmyer eased the pressure by punishing Prince Yadav’s wayward yorkers twice. Now it seemed like a gettable proposition again but Avesh had other ideas. He embarked on a yorker-launching spree with nine required in the ultimate over; his precision starving Royals of the boundary they were desperately seeking as they fell short by two runs.
