Who won yesterday's (Saturday, April 27) Indian Premier League (IPL) matches? Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson and wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel combined for an unbroken partnership of 121 runs as table-toppers RR beat Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. Earlier, Delhi Capitals survived Mumbai Indians' late surge and held on for a 10-run win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. (LSG Vs RR, As It Happened | DC Vs MI, As It Happened)
In Lucknow, LSG batted first and notched up a total of 196 for five courtesy another top knock from their skipper KL Rahul. He scored 76 runs from 48 balls before getting out to Avesh Khan (1/42) in the 18th over.
Deepak Hooda too scored a half-century (50 off 31 balls) as the hosts rallied from 11 for two, but their 197-run target proved to be within reach of the Royals.
The visitors fell to 78 for three wickets in their run chase after Jos Buttler (34), Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) and Riyan Parag (14) were all dismissed before the halfway mark. But Samson resisted with a blistering undefeated knock of 71 runs from 33 balls, including seven fours and four sixes, while Jurel stayed not out on 52 from 34.
Samson was named the Player of the Match for his aggressive innings that helped RR easily chase down the target.
In the afternoon fixture, Jake Fraser-McGurk went berserk with an 84-run knock off just 27 balls, getting past the 50-run mark off just 15 balls. Tristan Stubbs (48 not out) and Shai Hope (41) also chipped in with key contributions as DC set a daunting target of 258.
In response, MI too began with a bang. The visiting team kept the scoring rate despite losing wickets and Tilak Varma (63 off 32 balls), Hardik Pandya (46 off 24) put together a 71-run stand off just 33 balls to keep Mumbai in the game.
DC's Mukesh Kumar (3/59) and Rasikh Salam (3/34) tried their best to derail MI’s revival, but they turned up the heat and eventually needed 25 runs from the final over. Mukesh bowled the final over and despite Luke Wood and Piyush Chawla’s best efforts, Delhi held out for a second consecutive win.
Fraser-McGurk was named the Player of the Match for his swashbuckling knock that set the tone for the hosts' victory.
Points Table Update
With eight wins in nine matches, RR have strengthened their position on top of the IPL 2024 points table. Their next match is against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad on Thursday (May 2) evening. LSG, on the other hand, have five victories from nine games and are placed fourth. Their next match is against MI at home on Tuesday (April 30) evening.
Meanwhile, DC have climbed to the fifth spot with 10 points from as many games, and take on Kolkata Knight Riders next at Eden Gardens on Monday (April 29) evening. MI languish in ninth place with just three wins from nine matches, and next meet LSG in an away game on Tuesday evening.
IPL 2024 Play-Offs Scenario
RR now are at 16 points, and look set to become the first team to qualify for the IPL 2024 play-offs. However, they aren't yet assured of a play-off spot mathematically, as all teams except Royal Challengers Bengaluru (formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore) can still reach 16 points.
