Rajasthan Royals have chased down the highest-ever score at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow as the Sanju Samson-led side outclassed KL Rahul’s Luckow Super Giants in match 44 of IPL 2024 on Saturday, April 27. Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel led the charge with the bat as RR chased down 197 with seven wickets in hand. The Royals have now put a foot into the playoffs as they have registered their eighth win of the season.
After opting to bowl first on the black soil pitch pitch of the Ekana Stadium, RR restricted the hosts to 196 with captain KL Rahul being the top-scorer with his 76-run knock. In the run chase, Samson and Jurel notched an unbeaten 121-run stand. The visitors completed the win in 19 overs with seven wickets in hand.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler provided a solid start as the duo put up a 60-run stand for the first wicket. Jaiswal was the first one to race off the blocks and then Buttler joined the party. While Jaiswal hit 24 from 18 balls, his partner made 34 from 18 deliveries. Riyan Parag got up with a fine start but fell early for 14 in 11 balls. Jurel, who has not been able to create much of an impact this season, finally scored a notable knock as he made 52* from 34 deliveries. Samson continued his brilliant season with another score of fifty-plus, his fourth of the season as he ended with a knock unbeaten on 71 while consuming 33 balls.
Earlier, Rahul’s 76-run outing and Deepak Hooda’s 50 propelled the hosts to a score of 196/5 in the first innings. Rahul started a little slow but quickly picked up pace and found boundaries with ease. Hooda partnered him well as they put up a partnership of 115 for the third wicket.
Rahul also got to the milestone of 4000 runs as opener in IPL. He became the fastest opener to reach the feat. LSG are still in top four and have five wins in nine games.
LSG’s Playing XI:
Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur
RR’s Playing XI:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
