IPL 2024: Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants Match No.4 Highlights and Player of the Match: It was a close affair in the fourth match of the Indian Premier League 2024 between Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants but in the end, thanks to the brilliant performances of Sandeep Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin during the crucial death overs, Rajasthan Royals emerged victorious by 20 runs. Started his IPL 2024 journey.
While batting in the first match of this season, RR’s Buttler and Jaiswal provided a solid start, however were dismissed in quick succession thereafter. After this Riyan Parag took the innings forward and made an important contribution of 43 runs.
The partnership between Sanju Samson and Parag laid the foundation for RR’s big score. Samson’s innings, coupled with Dhruv Jurel’s quickfire cameo, took RR to 193/4. On the LSG front, Naveen-ul-Haq emerged as the lead bowler, taking two crucial wickets.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) lost 3 wickets in the powerplay in the beginning and came on the backfoot. KL held one end and Hooda provided pace while batting! As the chase intensified, LSG found themselves in a difficult position, needing 49 runs off the last 24 balls. It was Sharma’s crucial over, which resulted in the wicket of Rahul, that turned the tables.
Despite Rahul’s patient 58 and Pooran’s more aggressive 64* off 41 balls, their efforts failed. Initially, RR looked to be losing grip after putting LSG in a precarious position, but Sharma took 1 for 22 in three overs, which was exactly what RR needed. Their tight bowling kept LSG at bay, sealing a crucial win for the home team.
Rajasthan Royals Captain Sanju Samson: “Always great to spend time in the middle and it becomes more special when you win the game. This time I’ve been given a different kind of role with a new combination we have. I’ve been playing IPL for 10 years and there has to be some experience coming in.
I feel I need to spend more time and understand the conditions. Playing ODIs also helped me. It’s all about understanding your strengths and weaknesses. I should give this trophy to him Sandeep. He has that in his eyes, in his body language that you can trust that guy.”
Lucknow Super Giants Captain KL Rahul: “The target wasn’t a lot but we made a few mistakes. Good to see Mohsin back bowling well. Naveen has been crucial for us. We need to learn from our mistakes and find ways to win games. Langer has bought a lot of calmness to the group. We enjoy having him around.”
Player of the Match: Sanju Samson
Rajasthan Royals Innings: 193/4 Overs 20
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | Dismissal |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | 24 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 200.00 | c Krunal Pandya b Mohsin Khan |
| Jos Buttler | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 122.22 | c K L Rahul b Naveen-ul-haq |
| Sanju Samson | 82* | 52 | 3 | 6 | 157.69 | Not Out |
| Riyan Parag | 43 | 29 | 1 | 3 | 148.28 | c Deepak Hooda b Naveen-ul-haq |
| Shimron Hetmyer | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 71.43 | c K L Rahul b Ravi Bishnoi |
| Dhruv Jurel | 20* | 12 | 1 | 1 | 166.67 | Not Out |
Lucknow Super Giants Innings: 173/6 Overs 20
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike Rate | Dismissal |
| Quinton De Kock | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 | c Nandre Burger b Trent Boult |
| K L Rahul (c)(wk) | 58 | 44 | 4 | 2 | 131.82 | c Dhruv Jurel b Sandeep Sharma |
| Devdutt Padikkal | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | b Trent Boult |
| Ayush Badoni | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 | c Jos Buttler b Nandre Burger |
| Deepak Hooda | 26 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 200.00 | c Dhruv Jurel b Yuzvendra Chahal |
| Nicholas Pooran | 64* | 41 | 4 | 4 | 156.10 | Not Out |
| Marcus Stoinis | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 | c Dhruv Jurel b Ravichandran Ashwin |
| Krunal Pandya | 3* | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 | Not Out |
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