Samson, Jurel ace the chase as Royals pull six points clear
Sanju Samson (71 n.o., 33b, 7x4, 4x6) and Dhruv Jurel (52 n.o., 34b, 5x4, 2x6) scripted Rajasthan Royals’ umpteenth turn of the plot this Indian Premier League, and took the table topper to a seven-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium here on Saturday.
Joining forces at 78 for three, in a chase of 197, their unbeaten 121-run fourth-wicket association put the Royals on the brink of playos qualication.
Jurel enjoyed the rub o the green when he was put down twice by Yash Thakur in Mohsin Khan’s over. The fate of the contest was all but sealed when Samson pocketed two maximums in Mohsin’s next.
At the outset, Yashasvi Jaiswal laid down the marker with some lofted shots o Matt Henry on either side of the sight-screen. While Jos Buttler was slow o the blocks, a ramp shot o Henry in the fourth over got him going.
Though the visitors wiped o 60 runs in the PowerPlay, its openers falling in the space of three deliveries forced a recalibration. Riyan Parag, however, could not resist the tempting ¢ight of Amit Mishra and miscued his heave to deep cover in the ninth over, after which Jurel and Samson took over.
In the rst essay, K.L Rahul (76, 48b, 8x4, 2x6) staved o early hiccups and heralded another recovery job in the company of Deepak Hooda (50, 31b, 7x4).
Rahul and Hooda combined for 115 runs for the third wicket after Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma’s new ball exploits plundered the Lucknow top order. Rahul ¢exed his mobility when he fashioned a slog sweep and breached the fence despite losing balance and falling down o R. Ashwin.
Hooda ¢aunted his deft o-side range, punching Boult through covers and backward point o identical lengths. It took a carrom ball from Ashwin to fox Hooda who holed out at long on.
A nal ¢ourish was on the cards when Ayush Badoni fancied his chances and switch hit Ashwin for four. But a bouncer from Avesh that led Rahul to pick the elder at third man left LSG wanting for more.