Sanju Samson (71 n.o., 31b, 7x4, 4x6) and Dhruv Jurel (52 n.o., 34b, 5x4, 2x6) scripted Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) umpteenth turn of the plot this Indian Premier League and took the table topper to a seven-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday.
Joining forces 78 for three, in a chase of 197, their unbeaten 121-run fourth-wicket association put Royals on the brink of playoffs qualification.
Jurel enjoyed the rub off the green when he was put down twice by Yash Thakur in Mohsin Khan’s over, the 14th of the innings. The fate of the contest was all but sealed when Samson pocketed two maximums in Mohsin’s next.
RR skipper whipped Yash behind square to take his team over the line with one over to spare.
At the outset, Yashasvi Jaiswal laid down the marker with his lofts off Matt Henry on either side of the sight-screen. While Jos Buttler was slow off the blocks, a ramp shot off Henry in the fourth over got him going.
Though the visitor ‘wiped off 60 runs in the PowerPlay, its openers falling in the space of three deliveries forced a recalibration. Riyan Parag, however, could not resist the tempting flight of Amit Mishra and miscued his heave to deep cover in the ninth over, leaving Jurel and Samson to take over.
In the first essay, K.L Rahul (76, 48b, 8x4, 2x6) staved off early hiccups and heralded another recovery job in the company of Deepak Hooda.
Rahul and Hooda combined for 115 runs for the third wicket after Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma’s new ball exploits plundered the Lucknow top order.
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Rahul flexed his mobility when he fashioned a slog sweep and breached the fence despite losing balance and falling down off R. Ashwin. Avesh Khan’s 21-run eighth over swung the momentum in the home team’s favour.
Hooda flaunted his deft off-side range, punching Boult through covers and backward point off identical lengths in the 11th over. It took a carrom ball from Ashwin to fox Hooda who holed out at long on immediately after his 30-ball half-century.
A final flourish was on the cards when Ayush Badoni fancied his chances and switch-hit Ashwin for four. But a bouncer from Avesh that led Rahul to pick the fielder at third man left LSG wanting for more.
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