Jaipur, April 19

The pitch was far from conducive for batting but the bowlers still had a job to do. And the ones at Lucknow Super Giants did that with aplomb for a 10-run win over Rajasthan Royals in the IPL here today.

Chasing 155 for a win, Rajasthan were stopped at 144/6 as their return to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium after four years ended in disappointment despite a creditable outing with the ball earlier in the evening.

Rajasthan’s openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal knew that playing strokes wouldn’t be easy on this track, but they managed to keep pace with the required run-rate.

However, Lucknow staged a remarkable comeback to emerge winners in the end.

Young Jaiswal made 44 off 35 balls with the help of four boundaries and two sixes, while his senior opening partner Buttler got 40 in 41.

Earlier, Kyle Mayers top-scored with 51 before Marcus Stoinis (21 off 16 balls) and Nicholas Pooran (28 off 20) helped the team reach 154 for seven. Trent Boult bowled exceptionally to finish with figures 1/16 in four overs, while Ravichandran Ashwin was also excellent with the ball, ending with 2/23 from his four.

Brief scores: LSG:154/7 in 20 overs (Mayers 51, Rahul 39; Ashwin 2/23); RR: 144/6 in 20 overs (Jaiswal 44, Buttler 40; Avesh 3/25).