Lucknow Super Giants return to winning ways against Rajasthan Royals

Kyle Mayers scored a half-century to help his side to 154 for 7 before a team bowling performance, led by Avesh Khan's 3 for 25, restricted the Royals to 144 for 6

Jaipur: Lucknow Super Giants 154-7, Rajasthan Royals 144-6 – Lucknow Super Giants won by 10 runs

Lucknow Super Giants returned to winning ways with a 10-run victory over Rajasthan Royals.

The victory moves them level on points with the table-topping Royals after six matches.

Batting first, Kyle Mayers starred for the Super Giants, scoring 51 runs off 42 balls and sharing an 82-run opening stand with KL Rahul.

Following Rahul's departure in the 11th over, his side slipped from 82 for 1 to 104 for 4 before a 45-run stand between Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran steadied the ship.

^{Kyle Mayers scored his third half-century of the season [Money Sharma/Getty Images]}

Both players and Yudhvir Singh would depart before the end of the innings, with Lucknow Super Giants posting 154 for 7. Ravichandran Ashwin (2 for 23) and Trent Boult (1 for 16) were the standout bowlers.

In reply, Lucknow's bowlers did a fantastic job of stifling the Royals' usually free-scoring batting top order, with Jos Buttler (40 off 41) striking at under a run a ball and Yashasvi Jaiswal (44 off 35) and Devdutt Padikkal (26 off 21) faring little better.

The second innings panned out in almost identical fashion to the first, with Buttler and Jaiswal sharing an 87-run stand before their side faltered to 104 for 4.

But unlike the Super Giants, their middle order couldn't inject any energy into the chase and they fell 11 runs shy of victory.

Avesh Khan led the way with the ball, taking 3 for 25, while Stoinis (2 for 28) and Naveen-ul-Haq (0 for 19) also impressed.