Lucknow and Rajasthan locked horns in the 63rd game of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the Brabounre Stadium in Mumbai. The Men In Pink won the toss and elected to bat first. They had a poor start as the lost the wicket of in-form Jos Buttler (2) in the third over, who was clean bowled by Avesh Khan, trying to play the scoop shot. Skipper Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched a partnership of 64 runs before Samson (32) was caught by Deepak Hooda at deep cover off Jason Holder. Three overs later, Yashasvi Jaiswal (41) was caught and bowled by part-time bowler Ayush Badoni.
Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 39 off 18, was caught at deep midwicket by Krunal Pandya off Ravi Bishnoi. The wickets of Jaiswal and Padikkal impacted their scoring as Rajasthan went from 122 in 13.4 overs to 149 in 17 overs. Riyan Parag (19) became the second victim of Bishnoi in the 18th over.
In the same over, Jimmy Neesham (14) was run out to further dent the innings. Cameos from Trent Boult (17* off 9) and Ravichandran Ashwin (10* off 7) took the team to fighting total of 178/6. In reply, the Men In Mint Green had a poor start. Quinton de Kock (7) was caught at point by Neesham off Boult in the third over. On the next ball, Ayush Badoni (0) was trapped lbw. The left-arm pacer couldn't pick the hat-trick.
In the last over of the powerplay, skipper KL Rahul (10) was taken at point by Jaiswal off Prasidh Krishna. At 29/3, the likes of Hooda and Krunal Pandya stitched a partnership of 64 runs. Pandya (25) was going fine before he was brilliantly caught by Parag off Ashwin. Two overs later, Hooda (59) was stumped by Samson off Yuzvendra Chahal. The wicket of Hooda mostly ended Lucknow's hopes, who already needed more than 12 runs per over in the last five.
From 116/4, Lucknow slipped to 120/7, quashing all hopes of a miracle. Eventually, Lucknow lost the game by 24 runs.
This is how Twitter reacted
Tightening the bolts! Superb show #trentboult first with the bat and now with the ball. 👏#LSGvRR #IPL2022
— Reema Malhotra (@ReemaMalhotra8) May 15, 2022
Big win for @rajasthanroyals. Bigger in the backdrop of Buttler falling early. Both Lucknow and Rajasthan should go through #RRvsLSG
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) May 15, 2022
How many attempts did Sanju Samson make to get that stumping? 😂#IPL2022
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 15, 2022
This is an appreciation tweet for Obed - death bowling with a hurt leg. #DilSeRoyal 💗
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) May 15, 2022
Rajasthan Royals all but through to the play-offs. @rajasthanroyals
— Rahul Rawat (@rawatrahul9) May 15, 2022
Two wickets for Trent Boult ✅
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) May 15, 2022
Two wickets for Prasidh Krishna ✅
Two wickets for Obed McCoy ✅
Rajasthan Royals defeated LSG and registered an important win in IPL 2022 👏🔥#RR #LSG #RRvsLSG #IPL2022 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/67iIxQZCDo
Great bowling tonight by @rajasthanroyals 👏 Congratulations on the win and rising to the second spot on the table. A crucial spot to hold to step into the playoffs. #RRvLSG #IPL2022
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) May 15, 2022
Rajasthan Royals have 97% booked their chance for IPL 2022 Playoffs.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 15, 2022
Got to give a lot of credit to #SanjuSamson for d way he used his bowlers. There was a 6th bowlng option. But he backed his main bowlers to get d job done for d team. This takes lot of courage. Brilliant captaincy #RRvsLSG #LSGvRR #HallaBol #RajasthanRoyals #IPL2022
— Santu Mehra O+ (@SantuMehra51) May 15, 2022
Rajasthan Royals now have almost confirmed their chances for qualifying for IPL 2022 Play Offs!
— Nilesh G (@oye_nilesh) May 15, 2022
With this win against LSG they move to 2nd in points table with 16 points and better NRR than LSG#TATAIPL#LSGvsRR #LSGvRR pic.twitter.com/PpayU8AY8X