Rajasthan Royals returned to winning ways in the IPL 2026 after beating the Lucknow Super Giants by 40 runs at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
A fighting unbeaten 43 by Ravindra Jadeja rescued RR from a poor start and helped them post 159/6 on the board.
The Royals bowlers put on a disciplined effort to defend the modest total despite Mitchell Marsh’s first fifty of the season briefly threatening to undo their good work. Jofra Archer was the star of the show with figures of 3/20.
The result also snapped the Royals’ two-match losing streak after starting the season with four successive wins.
After being put into bat first, the Royals got off to a decent start with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal picking out gaps well for boundaries.
In the third over, it seemed like Jaiswal was ready to step up another couple of gears as he hit Mohammed Shami for three consecutive fours. However, the RR opener’s attempt to hook a fourth ended in the ball nicking his gloves and carrying to the wicketkeeper.
Shami struck again in the very next ball as he forced Dhruv Jurel to nick another one to Rishabh Pant. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also walked back in the very next over as the Royals lost three wickets within a span of eight balls without adding to the scorecard.
Riyan Parag along with Shimron Hetmyer looked to stop the slide and were looking solid with a 30-run partnership before RR captain slogged one to Nicholas Pooran at long on off Prince Yadav.
Hetmyer, too, departed a couple of overs later, leaving RR at 77/5 and fast running out of specialist batters.
The experienced Ravindra Jadeja then anchored the resistance, first putting up a 33-run stand with Donovan Ferreira to take his team past 100 and then joining forces with Impact Player Shubham Dubey to add 49 more and take the Royals past 150.
Jadeja top scored for the Royals, scoring 43 off 29 balls.
The Royals came out to defend their total with purpose and a brilliant piece of fielding by Ravi Singh saw Ayush Badoni walk back in the first over after being run out.
Nandre Burger then got Rishabh Pant to nick one to Jurel in the very next over.
Jofra Archer struck again in the third over, removing Aiden Markram to claim his 66th IPL wicket and draw level with Yuzvendra Chahal as Rajasthan Royals’ highest wicket-taker.
The hosts rebuilt through a 43-run partnership between Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran before Jadeja struck to dismiss the West Indian in the 10th over.
Ravi Bishnoi also struck to get rid of Himmat Singh in the 15th over but Marsh continued to play his shots and brought up his first fifty of the season in 39 balls.
Just as it seemed Marsh would go on to anchor a successful chase, Parag reintroduced Burger into the attack and the move paid immediate dividends as the Protea got rid of the dangerman. The Royals captain contributed with a stunning catch.
Brijesh Sharma picked a couple of wickets in the 17th over to bring the Royals closer to victory while Archer added two more to his tally in the next over to wrap up the victory. In the process, the Englishman also became the Royals’ all-time highest wicket taker.
The Royals will host the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday for what will be their first home match of the season in Jaipur.
Lucknow Super Giants vs Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2026, brief scores: RR 159/6 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 43 not out; Mohsin Khan 2/17) beat LSG 119/10 in 18 overs (Mitchell Marsh 55; Jofra Archer 3/20) by 40 runs.
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