Six balls are required for nine runs. In their last two games, the Rajasthan Royals played by that formula. Even though they managed to force a Super Over and lost in the tiebreaker, Mitch Starc’s excellent final over at Kotla a few days ago destroyed them. On Saturday, they come undone even worse in Jaipur. After chasing 181, RR lost to the Lucknow Super Giants by two runs, their sixth loss of the year, and they are currently stuck in the bottom half of the standings.
Avesh shines, RR collapse
With Yashasvi Jaiswal still batting at 74 and 25 runs needed off 18 balls, RR had the upper hand.Avesh Khan’s night had not gone well up to that point; he had given up 26 runs in his opening two overs. However, he blasted in a full delivery with the first ball of the 18th over, zoning in on the middle stump. The middle stump went off the ground as Jaiswal, who had been batting like a dream for the majority of the night, lost his form.It was the initial indication of yet another late collapse by RR.
Avesh was always attempting to bowl the longer balls, therefore it was not the worst idea for stand-in captain Riyan Parag to go for a scoop behind the wickets later in the over. However, he lost his form too much, fell offside, and saw the ball smash into the stumps. As he left, the review system reaffirmed what he already knew, even though he had previously examined it.Shimron Hetmyer struck a pair of fours off Prince Yadav in the 19th over, and RR has kept him because of his skills in the final overs. Then he flicked a full ball straight to Shardul Thakur at short fine leg after falling off the third ball in the final over.
Despite a late dropped catch by David Miller, Avesh held his nerve off the last ball to seal the win for LSG… and later quipped he wants to be the best version of Avesh Khan, and not be Mitchell Starc, when asked about the comparison.
