Rajasthan Royals had a great start to IPL 2023 campaign and then fizzled out due to continuous losses. This time in IPL 2024, they are looking for winning more matches at home and they started off strongly. Sanju Samson, the captain of RR, won the toss and elected to bat first. He took the score of their team close to 200 with his determinant innings.
Normally. Sanju Samson has a habit of trying for a big shot and giving away his wicket after a good start. He did not fall into such traps and avoided playing loose shots. Surprsingly, Riyan Parag looked more assured in his shot selection and after Yashasvi Jaiswal(24) and Jos Buttler(11) fell early. Sanju and Riyan have put on a 93-run partnership for 3rd wicket that changed the game complexion.
They looked set for a score above 200 but wicket slowed down and Riyan Parag(43) perished in pursuit of runs. Dhruv Jurel(20) got some important runs while Sanju Samson ended with a good 82 to his name. RR scored 193/4 in their 20 overs and LSG had to chase a huge target.
In the chase, they lost Quinton de Kock, Devdutt Padikkal early to Boult. Ayush Badoni(1) also failed and KL Rahul took his time to get into groove. Deepak Hooda(26) gave some momentum but could not carry on. Nicholas Pooran (64) and KL Rahul(58) took LSG as closer to the target as they can but they could not finish.
Sandeep Sharma(1/22) and Yuzvendra Chahal(1/25) managed to restrict RR batters on a helpful pitch. LSG managed only 173/6 in their 20 overs and hence, RR won their first match of IPL 2024 at home with 20 runs remaining.
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