IPL 2023: In cricket, there’s a saying that you can never judge a pitch until both teams have batted on it. This was certainly the case in the Indian Premier League clash between the Rajasthan Royals and the Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday.
The Royals’ bowling unit looked world-class as they restricted the Giants to a modest 154 for seven. However, when the Giants got three wickets in the space of 13 balls, the pitch suddenly started looking like a nightmare for batsmen.
The Royals got off to a great start, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler putting on 87 runs in 11.3 overs. But when Buttler was dismissed with a striker rate of 97.56, it was clear that the Royals batsmen had a mountain to climb against a disciplined Giants attack. In the end, the Royals fell short by 10 runs chasing the modest total, an astonishing result in the T20 format.
So what went wrong for the Royals? Hetmyer, who had been phenomenal with the bat in the back end of the innings, struggled with the sluggish pace of the wicket after being asked to bat at number five. The Giants captain KL Rahul, who had earlier made 39 off 32 balls and shared an 82-run first wicket partnership with Kyle Mayers, kept his calm and marshalled his bowlers quite brilliantly. But what eventually helped the Giants was the Royals’ inability to adapt to the slow surface.
The decision to send the out-of-form Riyan Parag ahead of Dhruv Jurel at number six backfired, and Devdutt Padikkal would have done better if Jurel had been sent ahead of Parag who looked completely out of depth against the quality of the Lucknow bowlers on the slow wicket.
Hetmyer’s rare failure
Hetmyer (2) came into the match on the back of four spellbinding knocks – 56 not out, 30 not out, 39 not out and 36.
The West Indian has been phenomenal with the bat in the back end of the innings.
But on Wednesday night, he struggled with the sluggish pace of the wicket after being asked to bat at number five.
The left-hander mistimed his shot off Avesh Khan (4-0-25-3), who was outstanding with the ball, and was caught at long on.
Failure to adapt
The Giants captain KL Rahul, who had earlier made 39 off 32 balls and shared an 82-run first wicket partnership with Kyle Mayers (51 off 42 balls), kept his calm and marshalled his bowlers quite brilliantly.
But what eventually helped the Giants was the rival’s inability to adapt to the slow surface.
On a wicket that needed crafty batsmanship, the Royals big strikers failed to bat themselves out of the hole.
Questionable decision
The decision to send the hopelessly out-of-form Riyan Parag (15 not out off 12 balls) ahead of Dhruv Jurel at number six backfired.
Parag failed to find his range again.
And Devdutt Padikkal (26 off 21 balls) would have done better if Jurel had been sent ahead of Parag who looked completely out of depth against the quality of the Lucknow bowlers on the slow wicket.
Naveen’s dream debut
Naveen-ul-Haq is the latest player from Afghanistan to play in the IPL. The pace bowler did remarkably well as he kept the Royals batters on a tight leash with economical figures of 4-0-19-0 on his debut match in the world’s richest league.
The Giants think-tank replaced Mark Wood with Naveen for this game. And the tall Afghan certainly rose to the challenge.
Super Stoinis
Marcus Stoinis (21 off 16 balls and 2/28) played his part with the bat, helping the Giants cross the 150 mark with his 45-run partnership with Nicholas Pooran (29 off 20 balls) for the fifth wicket.
The Australian all-rounder then dismissed Jaiswal and Buttler, the Royals openers, to turn the match decisively in favour of the Giants.
Naveen-ul-Haq, the latest player from Afghanistan to play in the IPL, did remarkably well on his debut match, keeping the Royals batters on a tight leash with economical figures of 4-0-19-0. The Giants think-tank replaced Mark Wood with Naveen for this game, and the tall Afghan certainly rose to the challenge.
Marcus Stoinis played his part with the bat, helping the Giants cross the 150 mark with his 45-run partnership with Nicholas Pooran for the fifth wicket. The Australian all-rounder then dismissed Jaiswal and Buttler, the Royals openers, to turn the match decisively in favor of the Giants.
Overall, it was a disappointing night for the Royals, who had remained top of the league with eight points on the back of their better net run rate against the second-placed Giants. The match once again proved that in cricket, you can never take anything for granted, and that adapting to the conditions is the key to success.
