LUCKNOW (Uttar Pradesh) : Magnificent fifties from KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda guided Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to 196/5 in 20 overs against the table toppers Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 44th fixture of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on Saturday.
RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
The hosts lost the first wicket only on the third ball of the innings as Quinton De Kock was dismissed after slamming two boundaries on the bowling of left-arm seamer Trent Boult.
After De Kock’s wicket, right-hand batter Marcus Stoinis came out to bat along with skipper KL Rahul. However, Stoinis went back without opening his account in the second over when the team score was 11.
After Stoinis’s dismissal, Deepak Hooda came out to the crease to bat along with Rahul. Both of them brought up the team’s fifty in the seventh over.
The LSG skipper brought up his half-century in the 10th over as he hit a boundary on the bowling of Chahal.
In the 12th over, the other batter, Hooda also completed his fifty as he took a single on the bowling of Chahal.
Hooda was dismissed on the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin in the 13th over after scoring 50 from 31 balls with the help of seven boundaries. He, along with Rahul, built a partnership of 115 runs in 62 balls.
After Hooda, left-hand batter Nicholas Pooran came out to the crease. Pooran was sent back to the pavilion after he scored 11 runs in as many balls.
In the 18th over, at the score of 173, Rahul was sent back to the dressing room after he had scored 76 runs in 48 balls which were laced with eight boundaries and two maximums.
After the completion of 20 overs, the hosts finished at 196/5.
The pick of the bowlers for the Royals was Sandeep Sharma who picked two wickets in his spell of four overs while conceding 31 runs. One wicket each was grabbed by Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, and Ravichandran Ashwin respectively.
Brief Score: Lucknow Super Giants (KL Rahul 76, Deepak Hooda 50, Sandeep Sharma 2/31) vs Rajasthan Royals. (ANI)