Match number 36 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) went down to the wire. In the end it was LSG who won the game by two runs as RR endured yet another last-over heartbreak. Avesh Khan was tasked with the job of defending nine runs from six balls.
The first ball of the over saw the bowler nail a perfect yorker to give Dhruv Jurel just one run. With eight needed off five balls, Shimron Hetmyer came to take strike and a fumble in the field by Shardul Thakur allowed the batters to take two runs to make it six needed from four balls.
Rishabh Pant moved Thakur to backward square leg for the next ball. Hetmyer got an over-pitched ball, which he drilled straight into Shardul Thakur’s hands to be dismissed for 12 runs from seven balls with two hits to the fence. The equation now read six needed for a win from three balls as Shubham Dubey came out to bat.
Lucknow Super Giants claim close win over RR
As the tension started to build up, Avesh Khan delivered his second yorker off the over to claim a dot ball. In the penultimate ball of the over, Dubey tried to go for a big hit and mistimed the ball. David Miller came running in and spilt the catch as the batters completed two runs. Once the catch was dropped, Vijay Dahiya and Zaheer Khan were left shell shocked in the dugout.
With four runs needed from the last ball, Avesh delivered a full ball that Dubey hit straight down the ground. Much to the shock of the batter, Avesh got his foot to the ball and only a single was taken as the bowler was injured in the process and signalled to the dugout for attention. As the LSG players were celebrating, a close Zaheer Khan could be seen hugging Avesh for his amazing effort with the ball.
Yashasvi Jaiswal top scored for RR with 74 runs from 52 balls with five boundaries and four sixes. Just when the batter was looking good to get his team over the line, Jaiswal lost his middle stump courtesy of Avesh's yorker. Vaibhav Suryavanshi made a terrific start to his IPL career with his knock of 34, which included a first-ball six off Thakur. Skipper Riyan Parag scored 39 but RR’s batting capitulated once they lost Jaiswal and Parag in a space of five balls.
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