Avesh shines as LSG beat RR by two runs in last-ball thriller

Pacer Avesh Khan defended nine runs in the final over as Lucknow Super Giants edged out Rajasthan Royals by two runs in a last-ball IPL thriller here on Saturday.

Chasing 181, RR rode on opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 72 and IPL’s youngest debutant, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s 20-ball 34, but could manage only 178-5 in the allotted 20 overs. Avesh finished with figures of 3-37. At just 14 years and 23 days, Suryavanshi was the darling of the crowd the moment he walked alongside Jaiswal to open the RR innings. 

With determination writ large on his face, the left-handed batter sent the Sawai Mansingh Stadium crowd into a tizzy when he smacked the first ball he faced — the fourth delivery of the first over from LSG pacer Shardul Thakur — for a huge six. The southpaw’s innings was laced with two fours and three sixes.

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RR’s Vaibhav Suryavanshi enroute 20-ball 34 on Saturday

Earlier, Aiden Markram and Ayush Badoni struck half-centuries to help LSG recover from an initial batting slump and post a competitive 180-5. Markram (66 off 45 balls) and Ayush Badoni (50 off 34 balls) stitched 76 runs for the fourth wicket to resurrect the LSG innings after they were reduced to 54-3 in the eighth over.  Captain Rishabh Pant’s decision to bat first after winning the toss looked like to be backfiring, but Markram and Badoni rescued the visiting side with some solid batting. 

Abdul Samad then played a cameo of 30 not out off just 10 balls down the order, hitting six fours from the final over bowled by Sandeep Sharma.  For the Royals, Wanindu Hasaranga (2-31) was the most successful bowler, while Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma took one wicket apiece. Archer conceded two fours to Markram in the first over, but he came back to dismiss in-form opener Mitchell Marsh (4) in his second over. 

Markram was going strong at the other end, but wickets fell around him with Sandeep getting rid of Nicholas Pooran (11), the leading run-scorer, leg-before after the batter committed far too early to a slower delivery. LSG were 46-2 after the powerplay, and they were in a spot of bother in the eighth over with Pant falling cheaply for just three runs.

Brief scores
LSG 180-5 in 20 overs (A Markram 66, A Badoni 50, A Samad 30*; W Hasaranga 2-31) beat RR 178-5 in 20 overs (Y Jaiswal 74, R Parag 39, V Suryavanshi 34; A Khan 3-37) by two runs

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