IPL 2026: Rajasthan inflict more misery on Lucknow as hosts remain winless after third consecutive home defeat

IPL 2026: Rajasthan inflict more misery on Lucknow as hosts remain winless after third consecutive home defeat

IPL 2026: Rajasthan inflict more misery on Lucknow as hosts remain winless after third consecutive home defeat Photograph: (IPL)

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Playing at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 40 runs in a low-scoring affair.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had another off day at the office as they lost a third consecutive match on home turf in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026). Playing at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated LSG by 40 runs in a low-scoring affair. The defeat was LSG’s fifth of the season and they stay second from bottom with four points, while RR are now second with 10 points from seven IPL 2026 matches.

RR inflict more misery on LSG

Burger, a left-handed quick from South Africa, struck two key blows, including Mitchell Marsh for 55, and Archer took 20/3 to bundle out the hosts, Lucknow, for 119 at the Ekana Stadium. Rajasthan bounced back from successive defeats to jump to second in the table, led by the Punjab Kings. Lucknow faltered in the chase after losing three early wickets, with skipper Rishabh Pant and Aiden Markram both out for a duck.

Burger had Pant caught behind in his first over before Markram miscued from Archer and skied a catch to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel. Australia's Marsh attempted to rescue Punjab with Nicholas Pooran (22) and then impact substitute Himmat Singh, who scored 15. Marsh reached his fifty with a six off Burger, but the bowler got his revenge two balls later when the opener mishit a shot and skipper Riyan Parag took a good catch.

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Medium-pace bowler Brijesh Sharma took two wickets in an over to further corner Lucknow, who survived just 18 overs in their fourth straight defeat. Archer, who reached a top speed of 151.6 km/h (94.2 mph), mopped up the final two wickets to seal victory for Rajasthan.

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What happened in RR innings?

Ravindra Jadeja top-scored for Rajasthan with an unbeaten 43 off 29 balls, an effort that steered the team to 159/6 after they had slumped to 110/6. Mohammed Shami struck two early blows with successive deliveries to dismiss Yashasvi Jaiswal (22) and Jurel for a duck.

Fellow quick Mohsin Khan then removed 15-year-old T20 sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for eight to further hamper Rajasthan.

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Shami, Mohsin and Prince Yadav claimed two wickets each but Jadeja kept up the fight and put on an unbeaten stand of 49 for the seventh wicket with impact substitute Shubham Dubey, who made 19. Shimron Hetmyer (22), Parag and Donovan Ferreira, who both scored 20, also contributed to the Rajasthan total.

About the Author

Parth Seth is a research fellow at India Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank, where he studies the themes of development, foreign policy, and multilateralism, particularly in ...Read More