IPL 2022 | RR vs LSG | Under-performer and Superstar of the match

Rajasthan and Lucknow faced each other in the 20th match of IPL 2022. The game went to the last over and had a thrilling finish. Rajasthan ultimately won the encounter by a margin of 3 runs.

Lucknow won the toss and decided to field first. Rajasthan had a steady start to their innings. But they experienced a mini-collapse and were down to 67 for 4 in the 10th over. After this, Shimron Hetmyer staged a brilliant turnaround with Ravichandran Ashwin. The fact that Rajasthan reached a total of 165 from the position they were in was a significant achievement. But laxity on the part of the Lucknow bowlers was a big reason Rajasthan posted the big total.

KL Rahul’s captaincy: Having the opposition at 67 for 4 in the 10th over is a great advantage in a T20 match. But Rahul was not able to take advantage of the situation. With Shimron Hetmyer at the crease, Rahul just went through the motion of the match. His captaincy did not even put pressure on Ashwin.

The Indian all-rounder was able to rotate strike easily with no close infielders. Rahul opened up the field too soon. Also, he did not think out of the box; when Hetmyer was getting set. Rahul could have used the per-timer Riyan Parag, whose off-spinners could have been effective. At least an over or two from him could have been used by the LSG skipper.

Again, while batting, KL Rahul’s tactics looked bizarre. He was determined to use Marcus Stoinis as a finisher and kept holding him back. This resulted in Lucknow falling way behind the required run rate. Stoinis was sent in at number 8, which was way too late for the explosive Australian. He scored 38 off 17 deliveries but could not win the match for the team even then. 

Seeing Stoinis the way he batted, everybody questioned the strategy of using him at number 8. Rahul’s lack of proactiveness and inability to think out of the box makes him the Underperformer of the Match. Besides, getting out for a golden duck in the chase also contributes to the factor.

Superstar of the Match-Kuldeep Sen

The Match situation: Kuldeep Sen was making his IPL debut against LSG. The RR skipper, Sanju Samson, used Kuldeep Sen for the last over of the match. Marcus Stoinis was batting at 28 off 12 deliveries at the stage, and LSG required 15 runs to win the game. The match looked heavily shifted in LSG’s favour. 

But after giving away a single of the first delivery of the 20th over, Kuldeep Sen bowled three dot balls to Stoinis, which sealed the deal for RR. 

Although ten runs came off the last two deliveries, the match was over by then. The brilliant over by Kuldeep Sen under pressure makes him the 'Superstar of the Match'.