Stoinis' all-round show, Avesh's spell scripts Lucknow win

Lucknow Super Giants staved off a stiff challenge from Rajasthan Royals to win by four wickets in the Indian Premier League at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday.

Lucknow batting first posted 154 for seven in their 20 overs and in their response Rajasthan ended on 144 for six in their 20 overs.

Earlier, Lucknow started off cautiously with their openers skipper Lokesh Rahul and Kyle Mayers putting on 82 runs. Together the openers struggled to get going quickly. Rahul finished on 39 off 32 balls with four boundaries and a six. Mayers ended on 51 off 42 balls with four boundaries and three sixes. Thereafter, there was a collapse as they slipped from 82 for no loss to 104 for four. Then there was a 45 runs for the fourth wicket between Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran which brought the innings back on track. In the end Lucknow ended on 154 for seven in their 20 overs. For Rajasthan the best bowler was Ravichandran Ashwin (2-23).

In their response Rajasthan got off to a cautious start as well. Openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal put on 87 for the first wicket. Jaiswal fell for 44 off 35 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. Then skipper Sanju Samson fell cheaply through a run-out. Buttler fell soon after for 44 off 35 balls. Shimron Hetmyer fell cheaply. Then Devdutt Padikkal and Riyan Parag tried to extricate Rajasthan out of trouble, but it was too little too late. In the end Rajasthan finished on 144 for six in their 20 overs. For Lucknow the best bowlers were Avesh Khan (3-25) and Marcus Stoinis (2-28).

Match Summary

Lucknow Super Giants: 154-7 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-82 (KL Rahul-10.4 ov), 2-85 (Ayush Badoni-11.4 ov), 3-99 (Deepak Hooda-13.2 ov), 4-104 (Kyle Mayers-13.5 ov), 5-149 (Marcus Stoinis-19.3 ov), 6-153 (Nicholas Pooran-19.5 ov), 7-154 (Yudhvir Singh-19.6 ov)

Rajasthan Royals: 144-6 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-87 (Yashasvi Jaiswal-11.3 ov), 2-93 (Sanju Samson-12.4 ov), 3-97 (Jos Buttler-13.3 ov), 4-104 (Shimron Hetmyer-15.1 ov), 5-141 (Devdutt Padikkal-19.3 ov), 6-141 (Dhruv Jurel-19.4 ov)

Playing XIs

Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper & captain), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma; Subs: Devdutt Padikkal, Murugan Ashwin, Akash Vasisht, Donavon Ferreira, Navdeep Saini

Impact player: Devdutt Padikkal for Yuzvendra Chahal (1st innings, 14.6 ov)

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (captain), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran (wicket-keeper), Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Ravi Bishnoi, Yudhvir Singh; Subs: Jaydev Unadkat, Krishappa Gowtham, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Amit Mishra

Impact player: Amit Mishra for Kyle Mayers (2nd innings, 7.6 ov) 

Match Details
Toss: Rajasthan Royals, elected to field
Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Start time: 1400 hrs GMT
Match officials: Jayaraman Madanagopal, Yeshwant Barde (On-field Umpires); Bruce Oxenford (TV Umpire); Pranav Joshi (Reserve Umpire); Rajiv Seth (Match-referee)