| Indian Premier League, Jaipur |
| Lucknow Super Giants 154-7 (20 overs): Mayers 51 (42), Rahul 39 (32); Ashwin 2-23 |
| Rajasthan Royals 144-6 (20 overs): Jaiswal 44 (35), Buttler 40 (41); Avesh 3-25, Stoinis 2-28 |
| Lucknow Super Giants won by 10 runs |
| Scorecard; Table |
India seamer Avesh Khan defended 18 in the final over as Lucknow Super Giants beat Rajasthan Royals by 10 runs in the Indian Premier League.
Defending 154-7 Avesh conceded four off his first ball but dismissed Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel in successive balls as Rajasthan finished on 144-6.
Rajasthan were well positioned when Jos Buttler (40) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (44) shared 87 for the first wicket.
West Indies’ Kyle Mayers made 51 and captain KL Rahul 39 for Lucknow.
“After the first ball from Trent Boult I said to Kyle this wasn’t a 180 wicket because it was slow and low,” said Rahul.
“We knew 165 would be a good total after 10 overs so we were able to set ourselves an achievable target. We just bowled better than them in the end.”
On a slow pitch that made scoring difficult, Mayers and Rahul shared 82 for the opening wicket in 10.4 overs before four quick wickets fell to leave Lucknow 104-4.
Australian Marcus Stoinis and West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran then put on 45 in 34 balls, with both dismissed in the final over.
Rajasthan were going well in the chase with Buttler smashing a 112m six – the second biggest in this year’s competition – as he built a platform for his side to extend their winning run to four games.
However, Jaiswal steered Stoinis to Avesh at short third, before captain Sanju Samson was run out after a mix-up with Buttler.
England white-ball captain Buttler then picked out deep mid-wicket to fall for a 41-ball 40 and leave Rajasthan 97-3 after 13.3 overs.
A 37-run stand between Padikkal and Jurel gave their side hope, but they ultimately left too much to do in the final over, with Avesh finishing with 3-25.
“With the batting line-up we have it was a very chaseable score, but they used the bowling conditions well,” said Royals captain Samson.
England’s Joe Root was again left out by Rajasthan, while seamer Mark Wood was unavailable for Lucknow through illness.
The result means both sides have won four of their six games, with Rajasthan topping the eight-team table from Lucknow on net run-rate.
