The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) vs Rajasthan Royals (RR) clash lived upto the name of ‘Sunday Blockbuster’ as it turned out to be a final over thriller. LSG made a few too many mistakes with their middle over in an attempt to experiment but Marcus Stoinis’ late surge kept them in the game till the last over. On the other side, it was debutant Kuldeep Sen, who managed to defend 15 runs in the final over with a rampant Stoinis on strike for the last five deliveries and hand his team a three-run victory at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Boult’s early strikes
Kiwi speedster Boult stunned LSG with the new ball. With a huge inswinger from around the wicket, he got through Rahul’s defences to uproot the stump. After Rahul’s second golden duck of the season, Krishnappa Gowtham got a surprise promotion up the order. After bowling a wide, Boult came from over the wicket and brought the ball into the right-handed batter. Gowtham was bamboozled by the swing and got out for a golden duck.
Chahal dominates in middle overs
LSG team management made another surprise decision by promoting Jason Holder to no.4. With the new ball, Prasidh Krishna got rid of Holder, who scored just eight runs from 14 deliveries. On the other end, Quinton de Kock kept calm and stitched a 38-run partnership to help Royals recover from early blows. But, debutant Kuldeep Sen ended Deepak Hooda’s innings in his second over. Hooda scored 25 runs from 24 deliveries.
LSG's designated finisher did not fire either as Yuzvendra Chahal got rid of him in the 12th over. In the 16th over Chahal struck again and got the wickets of set batters De Kock and Krunal Pandya. The South African wicketkeeper-batter scored 39 runs from 32 balls whereas Krunal contributed with a 15-ball 22 cameo.
Sent to bat at no.8, Stoinis had a tough task with at least a couple of boundaries needed in every over. Dushmantha Chameera played a crucial knock of 13 off seven deliveries before becoming Chahal’s fourth victim of the day. But Avesh Khan did some damage to Chahal’s bowling figures with a six off the first ball he faced.
Stoinis misses by a whisker
Stoinis hammered two sixes and one four in the penultimate over to keep Royals on their toes. In the last over, Avesh did the perfect job of taking a single off the first ball he faced. But Kuldeep bowled three consecutive deliveries to win it for Royals. Stoinis hit a four followed by a maximum but it could not get LSG over the line as they lost the match by a narrow margin of three runs. The Aussie all-rounder remained unbeaten for 38 off 17 deliveries.
Poor start, collapse in middle
Batting first, Royals' star opener and orange cap holder Jos Buttler did not fire. In the last over of powerplay overs, Avesh Khan knocked over Buttler. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 13 runs from 11 deliveries. Devdutt Padikkal had most of the strike during fielding restrictions and could not capitalise.
In the middle overs, Royals' suffered a mini-batting collapse. Skipper Samson was trapped in front of the stumps by Holder. In the next over, Krishnappa Gowtham got rid of Padikkal and debutant Rassie van der Dussen. Reduced to 67/4 in the 10th over, Royals promoted Ashwin up the order.
The Ashwin ploy, Hetmyer’s impressive finish
The move worked in Royals' favour as he played second fiddle to Hetmyer. The Caribbean hard-hitting batter hit sixes while Ashwin rotated the strike with ease. The two shared a 96-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
However, in the penultimate over, Royals' team management made the first-ever decision to retire a player. Ashwin got retired out with 10 balls to go in the innings to bring Riyan Parag in the middle. Parag contributed with eight runs off four deliveries including a six and got out in the final over. Hetmyer stayed unbeaten and scored 59 runs from 36 deliveries including one four and six sixes to take Royals’ score to 165/6.
