Marcus Stonis’s all-around efforts (a 16-ball 21 & 2-28) helped Lucknow Super Giants secure a 10-run win over Rajasthan Royals, in Jaipur, to retain the second spot on the points table.
After posting 154 for 7, courtesy Kyle Mayers’ half-century and Nicholas Pooran’s late blitz, the visitors restricted Royals to 144 for 6, despite an 87-run opening stand by Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Chasing 155, RR were stopped at 144 for six as their return to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium after four years ended in disappointment, despite a creditable outing with the ball earlier in the evening.
RR openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal knew that playing strokes wouldn’t be easy on this track, but they managed to keep pace with the required run rate.
However, LSG staged a remarkable comeback to emerge winners in the end. Young Jaiswal made 44 off 35 balls with the help of four boundaries and two sixes, while his senior opening partner Butter got 40 in 41.
Earlier, Kyle Mayers top-scored with 51 before Marcus Stoinis (21 off 16 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (28 off 20) helped the team reach 154 for seven.
Kyle Mayers said after the match: Any victory away from home is good, we always stress on winning away from home. I played some national cricket and came into this tournament. It was a difficult pitch for strokeplay. I was trying to hit more boundaries than sixes, not an easy pitch to come in and start hitting. It was critical to assess and understand that I need some balls to get used to this pitch. I think it (pitch) was just playing low. In terms of bounce it was up and down. Variable bounce was the hardest to handle today.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 154/7 in 20 overs(Kyle Mayers 51, KL Rahul 39; R Ashwin 2-23) beat Rajasthan Royals 144/6 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 44, Jos Buttler 40; Avesh Khan 3-25, Marcus Stoinis 2-28) by 10 runs