Ice-man Avesh holds his nerve as LSG edge past RR in last-over classic
For the second game in a row, Rajasthan Royals (RR) stumbled in a seemingly straightforward chase, unable to score nine off the final over. In Jaipur on Saturday night, Avesh Khan’s ice-cool death bowling turned a cruise into chaos, as Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) snatched victory from under RR’s nose.Up until 17 overs of their chase, RR seemed set to break their three-match losing streak. But with 25 needed off 18, Avesh got his execution dead right in a double-wicket over that went for just five. He first dismissed a well-set Yashasvi Jaiswal for 74 when he backed away to scythe a yorker-length delivery behind point. Then, four balls later, Riyan Parag’s attempt to play a cheeky scoop to a full ball that reversed in to strike his toe caught him plumb in front.RR went into panic mode, and stumbled at the finish line as LSG celebrated a jailbreak that didn’t seem possible.
The last-over drama
Four nights ago in Delhi, RR failed to knock off the two runs they needed off the final ball. Here, they needed four. Shubham Dubey had just been dropped off the previous delivery by David Miller at long-on. This was his shot at redemption, but Avesh stuck his left arm out on his follow-through to stop a straight hit.But there was more to the final over than just those last two deliveries.
With RR needing eight off five, Shimron Hetmyer swung wildly to get a thick outside edge to third where Shardul Thakur fumbled to concede a second that wasn’t on. Thakur was immediately sent off to square leg because of the misfield. And guess what happened next?Hetmyer played a powerful flick to an attempted leg-stump yorker to a waiting Thakur at backward square-leg.Avesh then nailed a pin-point yorker off the fourth ball before the Miller drama and his own nifty effort off the final ball to seal an improbable win.
The thrill before the spill
The spark came early, and it came young when Vaibhav Suryavanshi, all of 14 years and 23 days, strode out for his debut as the youngest player in IPL history when he was brought in as an Impact Player for their 181 chase. And the moment didn’t faze him one bit.Early impressions are that Suryavanshi is fearless. How else can you show that kind of audacity, where you make room and pummel your first ball in the IPL for six over cover? Thakur couldn’t believe it, clearly.Related
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Surely that was a one-off. Maybe it was nervous tension. Nope. His second attempt, off just his third ball, was even more audacious. He cleared his front leg, exposing all three stumps, and bludgeoned a six down the ground off Avesh.Fifth ball, there was even more drama. Avesh thought he’d done enough by banging in a short ball that Suryavanshi top edged. Prince Yadav, running back from midwicket, ended up dropping it and Ravi Bishnoi parried the ball to the boundary.Rishabh Pant quickly brought on his trump card, Digvesh Rathi, hoping the youngster would swing at one blindly. Suryavanshi showed smarts in playing him out. But before long, he climbed into Rathi, muscling him for a six over deep midwicket an over after hitting Bishnoi straight down the ground.But on 34, Suryavanshi was deceived in flight by Aiden Markram, who was operating because the accomplished bowlers had been taken to the cleaners by Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who put on 85 off just 8.3 overs. He got one to turn sharply to beat a lunging Suryavanshi. His back foot was in the air, and Pant whipped the bails off.The Suryavanshi show was over, but not before he had left viewers asking for more.Jaiswal soon raised a half-century off just 31 balls – his fourth half-century in five innings – and seemed set to see the chase through. His picking of lengths against spin was impeccable, until one grave mistake gave LSG an opening they burst through.
Samad turns hero
Their bowlers may have given LSG the win, but Abdul Samad’s contribution – an unbeaten 10-ball 30 – was as important.LSG were 54 for 3 when Pant fell cheaply and Samad was held back for him to be able to maximise damage in the end overs along with Miller. This meant LSG summoned Ayush Badoni as their Impact Player to stabilise the innings, replacing Mitchell Marsh.The consequence of this move was that they couldn’t bring in Mayank Yadav, listed as one of the Impact Subs, even if they had him in their plans.Badoni repaid the faith, scoring 50 in 34, to repair the innings with Markram, who top-scored with 66. But it was truly Samad’s pyrotechnics in the end that lifted a floundering innings.Holding his shape and picking deliveries out of Sandeep Sharma’s hand, Samad picked his arc between deep squares and deep midwicket to pummel four sixes in a 27-run final over that gave LSG momentum.In terms of overall contribution, this was worth its weight in gold, one that combined with Avesh’s to strengthen LSG’s position in the top four – all with ten points.