Inconsistent Rajasthan Royals desperately win against Lucknow Super Giants

Jaipur, April 18 (PTI), an inconsistent Rajasthan Royals will be desperate to join the holes over departments and stop a loss of three games when they host Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday. With just two wins out of seven games, the royals are on the table at eighth and come to the back of a complicated Super over the defeat against Delhi’s capitals. While the league hits the halfway mark, they will have to shake off the heart strings quickly if they hope to extend the men of Rishabh pant and climb out of the bottom half. Posted by inconsistency in both batting and bowling, RR’s campaign struggled to find momentum. To make matters worse, captain Sanju Samson had a side -tension in the previous game and had to get hurt, although he later said he was ‘feeling good’. The bat of the Royals, built around Indian pillars, fed too often and exposed the middle order and left under pressure. However, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal seems to have shaken off his rioting with back-to-back half against royal challengers Bengaluru and DC. But it should be seen whether he is wearing the momentum in Saturday’s game. Samson will make another defining beat, with the 66 he has been in RR’s first game against Sunrisers Hyderabad so far. Much will depend on his form of his and Jaiswal on how RR is against Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Rathi and Ravi Bishnoi. Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel have so far not made much contribution in the Kolffront and Duo has to put fire if RR has to place or chase a big total. Nitish Rana returned with a 51 against DC to the 81 he made last month against Chennai Super Kings, and he must continue the momentum. On the bowling front, Jofra Archer slowly ended up in his groove. But the Royals’ attack as a whole was toothless. Apart from Sandeep Sharma, their other bowlers struggled to control the standings. Sri Lankans Wanindu Hasaranga and M Theexhana did not do much with seven wickets out of so many games, while they granted many runs. Furthermore, some of the decisions they made during the loss against DC were also questioned. LSG also goes to Saturday’s game after losing against CSK, but they are currently in a much better position, with their four wins out of seven games they keep in fifth. Their bat form was generally impressive with Nicholas Pooran (357 runs out of seven games) and Mitchell Marsh (295 out of six games) in the top form. Pooran and Marsh are in the top and third sports in the batting card. South African Aiden Markram was also one of the runs, although the form of compatriot David Miller was a concern with 27 as his highest score in seven games. LSG scored more than 200 runs in three games and above 160 in all other matches. Fortunately for LSG, Captain Pant also returned with 63 out of 49 balls against CSK, its first fifty in this IPL out of seven games, although in a loss cause. LSG’s bowling was their worst link at the beginning of the competition with injuries to the most important Pacers, but later changed like Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi and Shardul Thakur. Thakur’s bowling form was a revelation as he took 11 wickets out of seven games after being set up only as an injury replacement in the LSG group. He was unsold at the IPL 2025 auction. The teams (of): Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubham Dubey, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (W), Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Mahaesh, Fazalhaqa, Tushpande, Sandeep Sharma, Fazal Dehpande, Sandeep Sharma, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ashok Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (C&WK), David Miller, Aiden Markram, Aryan Juyal (WC), Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Nicholas Pooran (WC), Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuvruj Chaphan Hangarkar, Arshin Kulkarni, Ayush Badoni, Shardul Thakur, avesh Khan, Akash Deep, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi. Match starts at 7:30 pm.