Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], April 19 : Blistering fifties from Aiden Markram and Ayush Badoni, embellished by Abdul Samad's flashy cameo in the end, lifted Lucknow Super Giants to 180/5 against Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.
It was a gripping affair between the bat and ball as the Super Giants and the Royals fought for control on a scorching night in Rajasthan. LSG found solace in Markram and Badoni's fifties, while Rajasthan found success in Wanindu Hasaranga's spin web.
After winning the toss and opting to bat, the Super Giants tried to capitalise on the opportunity by using their in-form deadly opening duo to reap success. Markram drew the first blood by despatching the ball for back-to-back fours in the opening over to extract 12 runs out of Jofra Archer's over.
The English tearaway returned to haunt the opening pair by luring Mitchell Marsh to sky it a mile up in the air and hole it to Shimron Hetmyer. LSG's explosive and Orange Cap holder Nicholas Pooran stepped on the crease to ensure his side maintained a healthy run flow.
The Caribbean received a lifeline after Shubham Dubey gobbled up the chance and floored the opportunity, denying Archer his second scalp of the day. But Sandeep Sharma outfoxed the in-form Pooran (11) and trapped him in front of the stumps to get rid of LSG's prime weapon.
Skipper Rishabh Pant put up another scratchy performance, which added to LSG's rising woes. As runs started to dry up from his bat, he thought out of the box and tried to take on Wanindu Hasaranga with a reverse sweep. He went for it but edged it straight to Dhruv Jurel behind the stumps and returned cheaply on three after consuming nine deliveries.
Ayush Badoni and Markram launched a counterattack by raising a 76-run partnership for the visitors. The duo entertained the crowd by putting up a wide array of shots on display. The South African sprinted for three and brought up a valiant half-century, and Badoni topped it up by attacking Sandeep and picking up two fours on the trot in the 11th over.
The threatening partnership eventually met its end after Markram (66) holed it straight to Rajasthan's stand-in captain Riyan Parag, handing Hasaranga his second of the game. Badoni continued to test Rajasthan's limits and brought up his fifty with a cheeky shot that raced away to the boundary rope for a four.
On the next delivery, he tried to clear the boundary rope but sent it straight to Shubham Dubey. An expression of satisfaction took over Dubey as he made ammends for dropping Pooran earlier. Abdul Samad's (30* from 10 deliveries) fireworks in the final over saw him tonk four towering maximums, which propelled LSG to 180/5.