IPL 2022, RR vs LSG: Rajasthan Royals crush Lucknow Super Giants to take big step towards playoffs

Rajasthan Royals innings against Lucknow Super Giants at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday will be a perfect one. There was no standout performer, yet the Royals managed to put up a competitive 178/6 on the board. The top-scorer was opener Yashasvi Jaiswal with 41 (off 29b; 6x4, 1x6) and the other batters chipped in with useful knocks. AS IT HAPPENEDIn reply, LSG were never in the chase once Trent Boult took out Quinton de Kock and Ayush Badoni in the third over, and then Prasidh Krishna sent back KL Rahul cheaply. Deepak Hooda (59 off 39b; 5x4, 2x6) and Krunal Pandya (25 off 23b; 1x4, 1x6) added 65 for the fourth wicket, but the required run-rate kept on rising during their stay at the crease. Towards the end, Marcus Stoinis (27 off 17b; 1x4, 2x6) hit some lusty blows but it wasn't enough as LSG fell short of the target and lost by 24 runs.

The start was far from ideal for Rajasthan. Orange Cap holder Jos Buttler's stumps were pegged back by Avesh Khan when the Englishman was on 2. It was Buttler's bread and butter ramp shot that he often deploys against fast bowlers in the Powerplay overs, but this time he made contact with thin air and the off-stump went for a toss. Skipper Sanju Samson walked in at No.3, and was languid with his strokeplay from the beginning. Samson's confidence rubbed on Jaiswal at the other end.

The left-hander then took a special liking to Dushmantha Chameera and smashed 21 runs off the Sri Lankan pacer's second over. One pull shot for six from Jaiswal's bat recorded 103 metres. The run-rate that was chugging along at a little over 6 zoomed to 8.50 after the Chameera over. Samson then collected three more boundaries - one off Jason Holder and two off Ravi Bishnoi - as Rajasthan were on course for