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Lucknow pull off stunning heist over Rajasthan in Jaipur

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4 daysCricket

The Indian Premier League produced yet another thriller on Saturday as Lucknow Super Giants pulled off a stunning heist over Rajasthan Royals, winning by just two runs on the final ball of the match.

A very tight bowling effort from LSG saw them take the game deep, and Avesh Khan (3-37) closed out the innings with a brilliant spell of death-overs bowling, picking up three wickets and conceding just 11 runs from his final spell with the ball.

After winning the toss, LSG opted to bat first and reached a respectable total of 180-5, despite losing their two most in-form batters in Mitchell Marsh (four) and Nicholas Pooran (11) inside the powerplay.

Aiden Markram (66) and Ayush Badoni (50) starred, while Abdul Samad’s electric cameo (30 off 10 balls) ended Lucknow’s innings on a high.

But Rajasthan took full advantage of what was a good batting surface, racing away to a 61-0 by the end of the powerplay.

With regular skipper and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson ruled out due to injury, Riyan Parag assumed the captaincy duties, while 14-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi – now the youngest player ever to feature in the IPL – took Samson’s place at the top of the order.

Suryavanshi (34) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (74) put RR firmly in the driver’s seat in their chase, with a helpful contribution from Parag (39) setting them up for what seemed like an easy finish.

With four overs to go, Rajasthan needed just 25 runs to win with eight wickets in hand and two set batters in Jaiswal and Parag at the crease, but a series of poor shot selections from their finishers meant that Lucknow could edge out the win.

Avesh bowled Jaiswal through the gate and trapped Parag lbw in the 18th over, before dismissing Shimron Hetmyer (12) in the 20th to bring the equation down to four runs off the final delivery.

Shubham Dubey failed to connect the big hit required, sinking RR to their fourth straight loss. They currently sit in eighth place on the table, while LSG’s win has pushed them up to fourth with 10 points.

Data debrief: Trailblazing Suryavanshi smashes IPL record

Suryavanshi made history when he came on as an impact player in Rajasthan’s chase, becoming the youngest player in the history of the IPL at 14 years and 23 days old.

He broke the previous record held by Prayas Ray Barman, who debuted for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2019 at 16 years and 157 days.

And he didn’t just show up – he made a statement. Suryavanshi smacked his first ball in the IPL for six, pummelling a Shardul Thakur half volley over extra cover.

In his first outing, he scored a brisk 34 runs off just 20 deliveries at an impressive strike-rate of 170. In total, 26 of his runs came in boundaries (two fours, three sixes) as he shared an entertaining 85-run opening stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal.