Marcus Stoinis' death overs heroics went in vain as Lucknow Super Giants went down fighting against Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. Rajasthan's Kuldip Sen, who was playing his first IPL match, defended 15 runs in the last over. Kuldip bowled three dot deliveries to Stoinis in the last over as Lucknow remained just three runs short of the target.
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Chasing a 166 run target, Lucknow were off to a horrid start as Trent Boult removed KL Rahul and Krishnappa Gowtham in the first over. However, Quinton de Kock remained at one end and played a sheet anchor role before getting out for 39 runs. LSG took the game to the death overs before they unleashed Marcus Stoinis, who smashed 38 runs off 17 deliveries but failed to take his team home.
Invited to bat first, Rajasthan shed the early advantage given by the openers Devdutt Padikkal and Jos Buttler. From 42-0, the Royals were slumped to 67-4 after Gowtham scalped two wickets in the 10th over.
Then, Shimron Hetmyer made full use of the lifeline and hammered Lucknow bowlers all round the park. Krunal Pandya dropped Hetmyer for 15 and the West Indian batter went on to score unbeaten 59 runs off 36 balls, hitting half a dozen sixes and a four.
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Hetmyer stitched a 68 run stand with R Ashwin and put Rajasthan's innings back on track. Ashwin declared himself retired out in the 19th over, allowing power-hitter Riyan Parag to maximise the run-scoring in the last two overs. Gowtham and Holder took two wickets each but both leaked big runs in their last over of the match.