Avesh Khan, you beauty! A possible half-hearted run-out chance from Shimron Hetmyer, followed by him giving an easy catch off Avesh Khan to Shardul Thakur, a dropped catch from David Miller, to finally resisting Shubham Dubey from the lost ball's boundary, Lucknow Super Giants defeated Rajasthan Royals by a close 2 runs! Avesh tried to resist the balls with his hands and got a hit on his fingers. It was tought, and he tried to shrug it off with pain, but worthy a pain indeed! LSG won the toss and decided to bat first, and Ayush Badoni finally delivered with a timely half-century when his team needed him to stand tall. Walking in at a crucial juncture, Badoni stitched a fighting 50 off 34 balls, with 5 fours and a six, anchoring the middle overs and guiding LSG towards a respectable total of 180/5 in their 20 overs. Aiden Markram was fluent with his 66 off 45 balls, keeping the scoreboard ticking, while Abdul Samad provided a late flourish with a sensational 30* off just 10 deliveries—blasting four sixes in the final stretch. For the Rajasthan Royals, the bowlers did a commendable job for the most part. Wanindu Hasaranga stood out with his clever variations, finishing with 2/31. Tushar Deshpande was economical too, conceding just 26 in his spell. Jofra Archer and Theekshana kept things tight through the middle, but it was the final over from Sandeep Sharma that proved costly. His figures ballooned to 1/55, largely due to Samad’s onslaught in the 20th over, which undid some otherwise disciplined bowling. RR had control for most of the innings, but that one over may just shift the momentum. Read also: Vaibhav Suryavanshi: IPL's 14-Year-Old Cricket Phenom Yashasvi Jaiswal leads Rajasthan's chase Rajasthan Royals started decently, way ahead of Lucknow. The newbie kiddo, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, mugged up 36 runs in just 20 balls, hitting two boundaries and 3 sixes. It was a close stumping from Rishabh Pant that ended the debutant's innings. Nitish Rana could not manage just 8 runs, as Shardul Thakur bagged him with a short one. Nitish, trying to pull it got trapped by Avesh Khan in the fine leg. Even Riyan Parag could not capitalize on his attitude into a big score, getting LBW trying to scoop Avesh Khan. Meanwhile, it was Yashasvi Jaiswal who donned the show with 74 runs coming off from 52 balls. He smashed five boundaries and four over boundaries and maintained a strike rate of around 142. Avesh Khan dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal with an absolute peach of a yorker. He nailed the delivery right on the middle stump, and Jaiswal, trying to make room by backing away towards the leg side to play it through the offside, was completely beaten for pace. The ball crashed into the middle stump, flattening it, leaving the batter stunned. But all went in vain, since he left. Shimron Hetmyer (12) tried a few shots, survived a run-out, but gave an easy catch in the final over. God knows why the camp did not trust Dhruv Jurel, the only legitimate lower-order in-form batter, despite some bad days. Be it in the match against Delhi Capitals or today, he hardly got the strike! Even Shubham Dube, the impact subs who walked in for just a few balls, took two runs but failed to hit the toe-crushing yorker coming from Avesh. Meanwhile, Avesh Khan was, no doubt, the pick of the bowlers for LSG, claiming 3 wickets for 37 runs in his 4 overs at an economy of 9.25, including a brilliant yorker to dismiss Jaiswal. Ravi Bishnoi was the most economical, conceding just 19 in 3 overs. Aiden Markram and Shardul picked up a wicket each.