KL Rahul led Lucknow Super Giants won their fourth match of the IPL 2023 which they played against Rajasthan Royals and surprisingly LSG managed to defend the total of 154 against a team which has a strong batting lineup.
The match was played yesterday at Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium, Jaipur, and RR decided to bowl first after winning the toss. The decision taken by the RR skipper Sanju Samson was proven correct as his bowlers managed to restrict LSG at the score of 154/7 in their stipulated 20 overs, while Kyle Mayers (51 runs, 42 balls, 4 fours & 3 sixes) was the highest scorer for LSG, the skipper KL Rahul also played a useful knock of 39 runs for which he faced 32 deliveries and his innings included 4 fours & 1 six. Marcus Stoinis (21 runs, 16 balls, 2 fours) and Nicholas Pooran (29 runs, 20 balls, 2 fours & 1 six) tried to accelerate towards the end of the innings and helped their team in posting a total of 154/7.
The target of 155 was not a big one for RR considering the fact that they have some of the best batters of the world and they also got a good start as openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (44 runs, 35 balls, 4 fours & 2 sixes) and Jos Buttler (40 runs, 41 balls, 4 fours & 1 six) produced a partnership of 87 runs for the first wicket. However after they both got out, RR fumbled big time and they fell short by 10 runs as they could manage only 144 runs in 20 overs despite having 4 wickets in hand.
Marcus Stoinis of LSG was adjudged as the Player of the Match as he also took 2 wickets after contributing 21 runs in his team’s score.
The micro-blogging site Twitter was ablaze with reactions as fans of KL Rahul made no delay in trolling those who criticize the cricketer whenever he fails to perform. Here are some selected reactions:
In a stadium where last 6 times,team chasing won!…let that sink in!…GOAT captaincy of KL and excellent bowling and sensible batting by Kyle and KLR!
— Nationalist Doctor (@nationalistdoc) April 19, 2023
Aab koi Kl ke captaincy ke tarrif nehi karega hamesha usko criticize karenge…GOAT KL❤️❤️❤️❤️
— SKR_AFFAIRS (@Soubhag92333584) April 19, 2023
Another captaincy masterclass by kl Rahul
— Ridhim_BHA🦅 (@2609Ridhim) April 19, 2023
All blamed klr captaincy in last match when they lost against pbks
But no one will praise him today
He won 9 match out of last 10 match while defendingKl bhai thoda bat se ab performance de do🙏
— Bori𝕏sh (KL Rahul का परिवार ) (@Borish81) April 19, 2023
https://twitter.com/rohitism45mi/status/1648746575995494405
Riyan parag is a good finisher, one day he will finish Rajasthan royals too
— ' (@Virat__spare) April 19, 2023
Riyan Parag performance in IPL over the years.
Expectation Reality pic.twitter.com/JrcDbHI6ka
— Shakti Man 💥 (@IamShaktiMann) April 19, 2023
RR fans(cricket fans in general) after watching Riyan Parag/Padikkal's batting:(Headphones recommended)pic.twitter.com/ts0uN2lTcC
— Ana de Armas stan (@abhithecomic) April 19, 2023
https://twitter.com/omg_bro_wtf/status/1648745526001799168
Sending Pan Parag ahead of Ashwin was the biggest mistake that RR management have made and it paid them costly 🥲🥲. Ashwin would have done it easily for RR
— Vishal (@Vishal52809403) April 19, 2023
Riyan parag pic.twitter.com/4HIvPLXjFX
— Sanket (@SanketS64861430) April 19, 2023
After the match, Marcus Stoinis stated that he was happy to contribute with the ball and after looking at the pitch, they knew it was a difficult one and they did not need to score 50 runs in 20 balls on this pitch. When he is asked whether he will bowl more in the tournament, Marcus says that this question needs to be answered by the skipper but as far as his fitness is concerned, he is ready to bowl more.
RR still tops the table with 4 wins in 6 matches, though LSG also has the same number of wins in the same number of matches played by them, the Lucknow franchise is on the second spot because of the low run-rate.
What do you think of this low-scoring encounter and what are the takeaways for RR from this match?