IPL 2022 | RR vs LSG | Stoinis loses battle against lionhearted Kuldeep Sen as LSG miss on fourth straight win

The 20th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 saw Rajasthan Royals (RR) lock horns against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the second fixture of the day. Lucknow came into the game with three consecutive wins to their name while Rajasthan, on the other hand, were looking for a win after their defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore in their previous contest. 

The Super Giants won the toss earlier in the day and opted to bowl first, inviting the Royals to bat. Devdutt Padikkal and Jos Buttler opened the innings for their side after Yashasvi Jaiswal was dropped from the side after a string of disappointing performances. The two put up a 42-run partnership for the first wicket within the power play before Avesh Khan rattled Buttler's stumps over with a brilliant delivery.

Skipper Sanju Samson once again failed to convert yet again as the batter found himself in front of the stumps against Jason Holder's full toss and had to depart back to the dugout at the score of 13 off 12 deliveries. 

The team tried to recover, with Padikkal trying to get his team out of the swamp. However, one over from Krishnappa Gowtham put the RR on the back foot as he picked up the wickets of Padikkal and Rassie van der Dussen in the same over to put the Royals at 67 at the loss of 4 wickets in the first ten overs.

The Rajasthan based franchise, however, made a strong comeback with Ravichandran Ashwin and Shimron Hetmyer stitching together a 68 runs partnership for the fifth wicket to get the innings back on track. Then, however, Ashwin walked back to the dugout as he was deemed retired out, a decision that raised multiple eyebrows from the fans and critics.

Riyan Parag was the next in line; however, the batter did not play have much to do as the Guyanese kept the runs flowing from one end and turned the momentum of the game towards his side. However, Holder managed to pick one final wicket as Parag departed for 8 runs off 4 deliveries as the Rajasthan Royals posted 165 runs on the board at the loss of six wickets at the end of the first innings. 

Shimron Hetmyer remained unbeaten for his side as the explosive West Indian batter scored 59 runs off 36 deliveries with six maximums in his innings. 

Lucknow did not have the start they were looking for chasing the 166 runs on the board as they lost two wickets within the first two deliveries of the game courtesy of two subliminal deliveries from Trent Boult. 

Prasidh Krishna gave the Giants no time to breathe and picked up Jason Holder's wicket to push the chasing side down to just seven wickets within the power play with just 14 runs on the board.

However, Deepak Hooda and Quinton de Kock got the innings back on track for their side as they put together a 38 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. The debutant, Kuldeep Sen, put an end to the budding partnership as he picked up the crucial wicket of Hooda, who was slowly starting to get into the groove.

Ayush Badoni was the next in line; however, the batter failed to leave his impact on the game as Riyan Parag caught him at long-off as he tried to slog Chahal in the 12th over of the contest, leaving his side down to just five wickets with just 75 runs on the board.

LSG surprised the fans as they decided to promote Krunal Pandya over Marcus Stoinis, leaving everyone scratching their heads. Chahal broke the back as he picked up back to back wickets of de Kock and Pandya, leaving LSG down to just three wickets with Marcus Stoinis as their last remaining batter.

With 60 runs needed off the last four overs, Chahal kept LSG in check as he picked up another wicket in the last delivery of his spell. Stoinis pulled the game deep as he scored some quickfire boundaries to push the game down to the wire. With just 15 runs needed off the last six deliveries, both sides were on edge in the game's closing minutes.

The man making his IPL debut was given the responsibility to bowl the final over of the contest as Avesh Khan quickly rotated the strike back to Stoinis, leaving fourteen runs off the last five deliveries. Sen kept Stoinis silent for the next three deliveries, ensuring his side's victory.

Stonis found two boundaries in the last two deliveries; however, it was too late for his side as Rajasthan managed to sneak away with the contest with a three runs victory in their favour.

Brief Scores 

Rajasthan Royals: 165/6 (20)

Shimron Hetmyer: 59*(36), Devdutt Padikkal: 29(29);

Krishnappa Gowtham: 2/30 (4), Jason Holder: 2/50 (4)

Lucknow Super Giants

Quinton de Kock: 39 (31), Marcus Stoinis: 38* (17)

Yuzvendra Chahal: 4/41 (4), Trent Boult: 2/30 (4)

Rajasthan Royals won by 3 runs.