Live Report: Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants, Jaipur

Parag started the over with a boundary but after a leg-bye, Avesh had Padikkal chasing a wide one only to be caught behind. With 14 needed from three, Jurel looked to clear long-on but Hooda jumped and took the catch right on the edge of the boundary. Avesh conceded only three off the last two to seal the game.

The two points for LSG mean that they and Royals both have eight points each from six games. Royals, however, are still on top, thanks to their superior net run rate.

That's all from my side for this game. See you soon.

An excellent 19th over from Naveen, even though Parag hit him for a six. The fast bowler varied his pace, using the pitch to his advantage. He even nailed a yorker. But LSG have been penalised for the slow over rate. They can have only four outside the 30-yard circle for the last over, to be bowled by Avesh. Royals need 19.

Ravi Bishnoi bowls an excellent 17th over, giving away just six. That leaves Royals requiring 42 from three overs. Padikkal, though, keeps Royals in the contest by picking up three fours off Stoinis in the next over. That brings it down to 29 needed from two.

With 51 needed from five overs, Hetmyer looks to go big against Avesh Khan but ends up miscuing it to Rahul at long-on. It's a huge wicket - before that ball, ESPNcricinfo's Forecaster had Royals' chances at 56.61% but Hetmyer's wicket and just three runs off the over mean it's just 24.33% now.

Royals need 48 from four overs, with Padikkal and Parag in the middle

First, it's Samson's run-out. A big wicket because he can really take off against spinners. It was his three successive sixes off Rashid Khan that changed the complexion of the game against Gujarat Titans. But a misjudgement here has him walking back.

In the next over, Buttler holes out against Stoinis for 40 off 41 - no acceleration this time. Royals 97 for 3 after 13.4.

Shimron Hetmyer walks in at No. 5. He has been in excellent form this season, scoring 20 or more in each of his five innings so far. After the Titans game, he said he practises for 100 needed from eight overs. The task is much easier this time but it's not an easy pitch to bat on.

Jaiswal and Buttler were moving towards the target without much trouble. Even though Buttler was scoring at only run-a-ball, Jaiswal kept finding the boundary to keep abreast with the scoring rate. But Stoinis has ended his stay on 44. Jaiswal tried to steer one past short third but found Avesh instead. He took a low catch but hurt himself in the process, his finger getting jammed between the ball and the ground.

Samson walks in at No. 3, so two right-handers in the middle against two legspinners.

After eight overs, Buttler is on 22 off 24 balls but Shiva Jayaraman says, "Rajasthan Royals shouldn't be too bothered about Jos Buttler's slow start. He makes up for his slow starts more often than not. Buttler has struck at less than 130 in his first 15 balls in 21 innings in the IPL. In 11 of those innings, he has managed to add 30 more runs - a "conversion" of 52.4%. Among 55 batters who have scored at a strike rate of less than 130 in their first 15 balls, only David Warner has a better "conversion" than

"Buttler's strike rate after 15 balls in these 21 innings is 170.1, the fourth-best among those 55 batters. Only Keiron Pollard, Yusuf Pathan and David Miller have managed to accelerate better."

Meanwhile, Super Giants have brought in Amit Mishra for Kyle Mayers as their Impact Player.

Royals had dropped KL Rahul twice in the powerplay. Now, it's Super Giants' turn to return the favour. Jaiswal slashes hard at a length ball from Avesh, and the edge flies towards Naveen-ul-Haq at short third. But he is late to react, the ball bursts through his hands. To add insult to injury, the ball goes for four. Buttler finishes the over with another boundary, the third of the over.

Super Giants have managed to keep a lid on the scoring rate so far. Even though Yudhvir Singh conceded 16 in the second over of the innings, Royals managed only seven from the other three. Jaiswal has done most of the scoring so far - 13 off 10, with Buttler taking his time - 5 off 14.

Shiva Jayaraman: In IPL 2022, Jos Buttler scored 863 at an average of 57.5, but he managed to score just 15 runs against Lucknow Super Giants from two innings. He was bowled by Avesh Khan in both games. Avesh has also dismissed Buttler bowled once in T20Is.

But it has not been a completely one-sided battle, given Buttler has taken 38 runs off the other 14 balls he has faced from the bowler.

However, Avesh is not the only bowler in Super Giants’ squad who has troubled Buttler. Amit Mishra – who wasn’t in the starting XI - has dismissed Buttler twice in just seven balls; on both occasions Buttler seemed to have failed to read the googly. It has been more of an even contest against Marcus Stoinis with the allrounder having dismissed Buttler twice in 46 balls.

All told, Buttler averages just 28.6 runs per dismissal against the bowlers in the current Super Giants squad – easily the lowest he averages against any team in this IPL. Buttler’s average of 36 against Kolkata Knight Riders’ current squad is his next worst against any other team.

After a six-run 18th over, bowled by Ashwin, Pooran picks up a six and four off Holder's first balls. Holder switches the angle, going over the wicket but after a dot, Pooran finds a boundary to deep cover. A brace by Stoinis off the last ball gives LSG 17 from the over.

Sandeep, though, pulled things back in the final over. Mixing his lengths, he gave away just eight runs. There were three wickets as well in the overs: Stoinis was caught-behind, and Pooran and Yudhvir Singh were run out as Super Giants tried to add as many as possible to their total.

It's not an easy surface to bat on but you will have to say Royals are the clear favourites at the halfway stage. ESPNcricinfo's Forecaster says Royals have a 67.78% chance of winnings.

Last four overs: 25 runs, 2 wickets

After going for 36 in his first three overs, Chahal concedes only five in his last, the 15th of the innings. And as he completed his quota, Royal replaced him with Devdutt Padikkal.

Stoinis walks in at No. 5, and Ashwin has an interesting field for him: a fielder placed at the boundary, right behind the umpire. But Stoinis pulls out the reverse sweep to pick a boundary to the left of short third.

A single later, Ashwin rattles Mayers' stumps. The batter played down the wrong line, getting beaten on the outside edge.

It's not an easy pitch. The ball is coming slower off the surface, and despite having spent so much time in the middle, Mayers is still struggling with timing. But back-to-back fours off Chahal followed by a single have taken him to his half-century, off 40 balls. A standing ovation from the dugout.

Deepak Hooda, on his 28th birthday, tries to take on Ashwin but holes out on the leg-side boundary.

It was slightly fuller than good length from Holder. Rahul went aerial but instead of going all the way, he seemed to have checked his shot. Jos Buttler accepted a regulation chance at long-on. He made 39 off 32.

Ayush Badoni got a promotion to No. 3 and survived an lbw call first ball. But he didn't last long, deflecting a scoop onto his leg stump off Boult in the next over.

Finally. Finally, we have some intent from Rahul and Mayers, and some boundaries to show for it. It began with Mayers launching Holder over long-off and Rahul finishing the over with a boundary. In the next over, Chahal was in the firing line. Mayers hit him for a six and four off successive balls before Rahul slog-swept him for a 103-metre monster.

Boult the unlucky bowler this time. Rahul tried to clear mid-off this time but ended up miscuing it. Jason Holder ran back and seemed to have settled himself under it but it popped out.

In the next over, Mayers survived a close run-out call at the non-striker's end. Rahul pushed Ashwin towards covers but wasn't really keen on the single. Mayers had taken off, and was a bit casual to retrace his steps. There was a direct hit at the bowler's end but before the ball hit the stumps, Ashwin had broken the wicket with his arm.

This is the lowest wicketless powerplay total this season by a distance, Matt Roller says. The previous lowest was LSG's 49 for 0 vs PBKS at the weekend.

With just 14 runs on the board after three overs, Rahul walks down the ground to Sandeep Sharma and punches him uppishly towards extra cover, where Yashasvi Jaiswal puts down a straightforward chance. Rahul is the anchor around whom Super Giants bat. How costly will it prove for Royals? Later in the same over, Rahul gets another life. He pushed Sandeep to the right of Jaiswal and took off for a quick single. Jaiswal intercepted the shot with a dive and aimed for a direct hit. Had he hit, Rahul would have been out by a yard.

There was no first-over wicket for Trent Boult this time, but he made sure there was no run either. He has now bowled eight first-over maidens in the IPL, the joint-most with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Praveen Kumar with seven is the next on the list.

Super Giants would have the same had they won the toss. And it's not a surprise. The chasing teams have a much better record here: 14 wins and six losses since the start of 2019.

Sanju Samson said they have made one change: Jason Holder comes back for Adam Zampa. For Super Giants, Quinton de Kock continues to sit out. Naveen-ul-Haq is making his debut for them.

Here are the playing XIs:

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Yashavi Jaiswal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Dhruv Jurel, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Jason Holder, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
Substitutes: Devdutt Padikkal, M Ashwin, Joe Root, Donovan Ferreira, Navdeep Saini

Lucknow Super Giants: 1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Marcus Stoinis, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Krunal Pandya, 6 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 7 Ayush Badoni, 8 Naveen-ul-Haq, 9 Yudhvir Singh, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Avesh Khan
Substitues: Jaydev Unadkat, K Gowtham, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Amit Mishra