Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) failed to chase down an easy target of 160 against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) today (April 22) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) after a batting collapse which saw them get bundled out for 119 and suffer a 40-run loss. With the latest defeat in the LSG vs RR fixture at home, the Rishabh Pant-led side remained at second last in the points table with two wins and five losses.
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals consolidated their IPL 2026 playoffs chances with a fifth win in seven games. Ravindra Jadeja won the player of the match award for his crucial all-round contributions.
Check the key takeaways from the LSG vs RR contest.
Walking out when Rajasthan Royals were reeling at 62/4 in the ninth over, the dynamic left-hander played a crucial innings of 29-ball 43 to propel the scoreboard to a fighting total of 159/6 in 20 overs. Ravindra Jadeja formed two crucial partnerships at the backend, a 33-run stand with Donovan Ferreira for the sixth wicket before adding another 49 runs with impact player Shubham Dubey.
Jaddu then contributed with his left-arm spin too, bowling a tidy spell of 1/29 from his quota of four overs and getting the big wicket of Nicholas Pooran.
LSG have continuously tinkered with their opening combination in IPL 2026., trying as many as three players alongside Mitchell Marsh. The latest name to be slotted as opener is Ayush Badoni. Apart from Badoni, LSG management have also tried Aiden Markram and Rishabh Pant. This constant tinkering comes as a surprise, since Lucknow already had an established opening pair from last year in Markram and Mitchell Marsh. The duo finished IPL 2025 as the second-highest run-scorers amongst opening pairs with 574 runs in 12 innings comprising four fifty-plus stands and one century partnership.
Nevertheless, coming to Badoni, he was first tried in the role in a towering chase of 255 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the previous encounter. While he managed to get going, he failed to convert his knock into a big score, falling for 21-ball 35. Today however, Ayush Badoni had to depart for a golden duck after falling prey to a runout. It is understood that LSG wants to groom Badoni to take on responsibility and bat in challenging situations.
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While Riyan Parag has struggled with his batting, he has been on point with the decision-making in his maiden full-time IPL captaincy. From bowling rotation to field settings, Parag has barely gone wrong and the results serve as a testament to that. His smart brand of leadership once again came to the fore today in the LSG vs RR game.
After LSG lost Badoni in first over of their chase, followed by Pant and Markram to Nandre Burger and Jofra Archer in the second and third overs respectively, Parag decided to tighten the noose further. In a bid to do so, he bowled his two best pacers for extended spells, giving them three overs each in the powerplay. Parag was bold enough to attack and not worry about the backend of the innings and Archer even managed to bowl a maiden over in the powerplay, repaying the captain’s decisions as LSG were almost put out of the contest early in the chase.
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