Rajasthan’s 40-run win

Rajasthan Royals beat Lucknow Super Giants by 40 runs on April 22, pushing themselves into second place in the Indian Premier League table. (espncricinfo.com) Rajasthan made 159 for 6 in 20 overs at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium, then bowled Lucknow out for 119 in 18 overs in Match 32. Ravindra Jadeja was named player of the match after scoring 43 not out off 29 balls and taking 1 for 29. (espncricinfo.com) The innings turned after Rajasthan slipped to 32 for 3 inside four overs. Jadeja, Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira and Shubham Dubey pushed them to a defendable total, while Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan and Prince Yadav took two wickets each for Lucknow. (espncricinfo.com) The result changed the shape of the standings immediately. Rajasthan moved to 10 points from seven matches with a net run rate of +0.790, while Punjab Kings stayed first with 11 points from six matches and no losses. (sports.yahoo.com) Royal Challengers Bengaluru stayed third on 8 points from six matches, and Sunrisers Hyderabad were fourth on 8 points from seven. Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans were both on 6 points, which left the middle of the table packed after 32 matches. (sports.yahoo.com) Lucknow dropped to ninth with 4 points from seven matches and the league’s worst net run rate, minus 1.277. ESPNcricinfo’s standings page listed only Kolkata Knight Riders below them after the game. (espncricinfo.com) For Rajasthan, the win stopped a two-match slide that had followed victories over Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru earlier in the season. The franchise’s fixture list shows losses to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders before this rebound in Lucknow. (rajasthanroyals.com) The schedule now gives Rajasthan three listed upcoming matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 25, Punjab Kings on April 28 and Delhi Capitals on May 1. Those are all against teams currently in or around the top half of the table. (rajasthanroyals.com) Lucknow’s position looks tighter because this was their fifth loss in seven matches. Rajasthan opened the night in a crowd near the top; they ended it with only Punjab ahead of them. (espncricinfo.com)