Chahal, Hetmyer, Boult star in thrilling RR win

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the twentieth game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Yuzvendra Chahal was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

RR try new opening pair

As the Royals came out to bat, they had a new opening combination of Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal. The two seemed to have a proper game plan from the beginning. Buttler smacked Jason Holder around and Padikkal hammered Ravi Bishnoi for to give their side a brisk start.

Khan pulls things back

Buttler, trying to make full use of the final over of the powerplay, fell victim to Avesh Khan, as the pacer absolutely rattled the stumps. From there, the Royals decelerated drastically, with wickets falling at continuously. Sanju Samson was found to be leg before wicket to a Holder full toss. Padikkal's reverse sweep off Krishnappa Gowtham went awry, lobbing short third man a simple catch. Rassie van der Dussen, on IPL debut, missed a cut, and became Gowtham's second wicket of the night.

Hetmyer shows off his power

After an incredibly sluggish set of overs in the middle, Shimron Hetmyer decided that enough was enough. He decided to take on Holder, launching two sixes and a four off the 18th over.  He then swatted Khan for another two sixes in the next over, before Holder was punished again in the final over, and Hetmyer lifted his side to 165.

Boult and Krishna swing things RR's way

The men in pink could not have asked for a better start as Trent Boult cleaned up Kananur Lokesh Rahul first ball with an absolute peach of a delivery. As if that wasn't enough, he then trapped Gowtham dead in front, making the umpire's work just that much easier. TPrasidh Krishna, too, joined the mayhem as he got rid of Jason Holder as the West Indian sliced the ball into the grateful hands of Ravichandran Ashwin at mid-on.

Chahal delivers as usual

With the scoreboard needing some urgency, Ayush Badoni decided to take on Yuzvendra Chahal. Any other bowler, an one could understand; the play may have also paid off then. However, Chahal, the bowler who invites batters to attack him, was more than happy to give Badoni the flight he wanted, only for him Riyan Parag stationed at the boundary for exactly that.

The Super Giants required 69 runs off the final 5 overs. With two Chahal overs in the bank, RR were in a commanding position. He dismissed both de Kock and Krunal Pandya, only making victory seem more and more inevitable with each ball. 

RR overcome Stoinis scare

With 34 required off the last two overs, RR were in pole position to win the match. However, the first rule of cricket is no never rule a game out when it is still mathematically possible. Marcus Stoinis, playing his first game of the season, was being held back by the LSG team management for such a situation. In the 19th over, the Australian tore into Krishna, reaping 19 runs off the over.

With 15 needed off the final 6 balls, Samson had no other option but to go to Kuldeep Sen, who was having a good debut throughout the night till them. After that over, one could say that Sen had a fantastic debut, as he bowled the right lengths not only to deny LSG of a victory of also make Stoinis struggle to simply put bat on ball.