RR vs LSG, the 20th match of Tata IPL 2022, was a thriller that went to the last over. Debutant uncapped Kuldeep Sen kept his nerves to successfully defend 15 runs in the last over against Marcus Stoinis to help his team register the fourth victory in the tournament and rise to the top of the rankings.
RR vs LSG Highlights:
RR Innings:
Rajasthan Royals batted first, and Devdutt Padikkal and Jos Buttler came to open for the Royals. RR had a decent start with Buttler and Padikkal forming a 42 run stand for the first wicket in 5 overs.
Avesh Khan removed the in-form Buttler to provide a breakthrough for Lucknow Super Giants. Padikkal, Samson and Van der Dussen could not maintain the tempo of the inning and Rajasthan got stuck in the middle overs.
At 67-4 in 10 overs Royals needed an impactful partnership to power them to a competitive total. Shimron Hetmyer and Ravi Ashwin did precisely what was required. They put up a 68 run stand for the 5th wicket to put the Royals back into the driving seat.
Ravi Ashwin retired and registered the first instance of this in IPL history. He scored a brilliant 28 off 23. Meanwhile, Shimron Hetmyer was playing an absolute blinder. Hetmyer made unbeaten 59* off 36, including 6 massive sixes to help Rajasthan finish on a high.
Royals put up a decent total of 165/6 in 20 overs.
LSG Innings:
RR had a dream start with the ball as Trent Boult dismissed KL Rahul on the first delivery and sent Krishnappa Gowtham back to the pavilion in the first over itself. Super Giants were put on the back foot and had an uphill task ahead themselves to win the game.
Jason Holder, promoted at four, could not make use of the opportunity and scored only 8 runs in his troubled stay at the crease. Quinton de Kock and Deepak Hooda gave some hope to LSG fans as the duo formed a 38 run stand for the 4th wicket.
However, Hooda and young sensation Ayush Badoni departed in quick intervals and pressure mounted on the LSG batting unit. LSG was reduced to 74/5 in 12 overs. Krunal Pandya and de Kock shouldered the responsibility of bringing their team closer, but they too departed quickly, and LSG struggled again.
LSG was 102/7 in 16 overs and needed 64 runs in 4 overs to win the game. Marcus Stoiniws played some fine shots, and the equation reduced to 34 in the last 2 overs. Stoinis took apart Prasidh Krishna in the 19th over and further reduced the equation to 15 of the last over.
There was unimaginable pressure on the young debutant Kuldeep Sen in the final over to defend 15 runs against the hulk of cricket. However, Senn kept his nerves and bowled to his field to help the Royals ultimately triumph by 3 runs.