If the term 'team effort' needs to be elaborated with a practical example, then the Rajasthan Royals innings against Lucknow Super Giants at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday will be a perfect one.
There was no standout performer, yet the Royals managed to put up a competitive 178/6 on the board. The top-scorer was opener Yashasvi Jaiswal with 41 (off 29b; 6x4, 1x6) and the other batters chipped in with useful knocks.
In reply, LSG were never in the chase once Trent Boult took out Quinton de Kock and Ayush Badoni in the third over, and then Prasidh Krishna sent back KL Rahul cheaply.
1/7:Rajasthan down Lucknow
<p>Trent Boult led an inspired bowling attack to help Rajasthan Royals down Lucknow Super Giants by 24 runs and edge closer to an IPL play-off berth on Sunday. (BCCI/IPL/PTI Photo)</p>
2/7:Yashasvi Jaiswal
<p>Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal made 41 off 29 balls to guide Royals to 178 for six, a total their bowlers defended by restricting Lucknow to 154-8. (BCCI/IPL/PTI Photo)</p>
3/7:Trent Boult
<p>Boult struck twice on successive deliveries to send back Quinton de Kock (7) Ayush Badoni (0) to dent Lucknow's chase and returned impressive figures of 2-18. (BCCI/IPL/PTI Photo)</p>
4/7:Prasidh Krishna
<p>Lucknow run chase got off to a poor start when Prasidh Krishna sent back skipper KL Rahul for 10. (BCCI/IPL/ANI Photo)</p>
5/7:Krunal Pandya
<p>Krunal Pandya, who made 25 before falling to Ravichandran Ashwin off a relay catch between Jos Buttler and Riyan Parag, put together 65 runs with Deepak Hooda. (BCCI/IPL/ANI Photo)</p>
6/7:Deepak Hooda
<p>Hooda kept up the charge in his 39-ball 59 but fell stumped off Yuzvendra Chahal and took with him Lucknow's hopes of a chase. (BCCI/IPL/PTI Photo)</p>
7/7:Obed McCoy
<p>Obed McCoy dismissed Jason Holder (1) to expose Lucknow's tail and Prasidh Krishna took down Marcus Stoinis (27), as Lucknow remained short of their target. (BCCI/IPL/PTI Photo)</p>Deepak Hooda (59 off 39b; 5x4, 2x6) and Krunal Pandya (25 off 23b; 1x4, 1x6) added 65 for the fourth wicket, but the required run-rate kept on rising during their stay at the crease. Towards the end, Marcus Stoinis (27 off 17b; 1x4, 2x6) hit some lusty blows but it wasn't enough as LSG fell short of the target and lost by 24 runs.
The start was far from ideal for Rajasthan. Orange Cap holder Jos Buttler's stumps were pegged back by Avesh Khan when the Englishman was on 2. It was Buttler's bread and butter ramp shot that he often deploys against fast bowlers in the Powerplay overs, but this time he made contact with thin air and the off-stump went for a toss.
Skipper Sanju Samson walked in at No.3, and was languid with his strokeplay from the beginning. Samson's confidence rubbed on Jaiswal at the other end.
The left-hander then took a special liking to Dushmantha Chameera and smashed 21 runs off the Sri Lankan pacer's second over. One pull shot for six from Jaiswal's bat recorded 103 metres. The run-rate that was chugging along at a little over 6 zoomed to 8.50 after the Chameera over.
Samson then collected three more boundaries - one off Jason Holder and two off Ravi Bishnoi - as Rajasthan were on course for a 200-plus total. But Samson (32 off 24b; 6x4) tried one shot too many, and his lofted drive off a full length delivery from Holder didn't find the required timing and was sliced towards deep cover where Deepak Hooda took an easy catch.
Devdutt Padikkal joined Jaiswal in the middle, and he got off the blocks immediately. Padikkal was particularly severe on Stoinis and took 15 runs off one over from the Australian. Chameera's bad day went worse with Padikkal continuing with his aggressive strokeplay.
Jaiswal then gifted away his wicket to the part-time off-spin of Badoni, and soon after Padikkal (39 off 18b; 5x4, 2x6) too went back to the pavilion.
RR's power-hitters - Riyan Parag and Jimmy Neesham - had to curb their attacking instincts for a while and the pair took the team to the slog overs without any further loss. But just when they had to tee off, both players fell in the same over.
At 154/6 after 18 overs, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Trent Boult batting, it seemed the Royals would at max reach 165. But Boult (17 off 9b; 2x4) and Ashwin hit a few boundaries towards the end to help RR reach a fighting total.
