Lucknow Super Giants lost match no. 63 to Rajasthan Royals by 63 runs but still stand a much better chance than the other teams to make it to the playoffs. The Royals are now second in the points table while the Super Giants have slipped to the third spot and will be looking to make a strong comeback when they meet KKR in their last league game.
Batting first, the Royals put up a total of 178 runs on the board. Jos Buttler, who was in the form of his life in the first half of the season, was dismissed for just two runs but his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a knock of 41 runs. In the middle order, captain Sanju Samson contributed with 32 runs while Devdutt Padikkal scored 39 off just 18 deliveries.
Dushmantha Chameera and Marcus Stoinis were among the most expensive bowlers for Lucknow while Avesh Khan, Jason Holder and Ravi Bishnoi were among the better performers on the day.
Chasing 179 to win, LSG got off to a poor start, losing their top three batsmen for just 17 runs combined. Deepak Hooda scored 59 while Krunal Pandya helped with a 25 but that wasn't enough as the KL Rahul led side eventually fell short of the target by 24 runs.
Obed McCoy, Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna picked up two wickets each for Rajasthan. Boult was also the most economical among them, having given away a mere 18 runs in his four overs.
Image credit: IPL
