 "Avesh plays down comparison with Starc after starring in LSG's thrilling win vs RR: 'Want to become a good Avesh Khan'")
Avesh Khan said he did not want to become another Mitchell Starc, and wanted to focus on becoming a “good Avesh Khan” after starring in Lucknow Super Giants’ thrilling two-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday. The Royals suffered their fourth defeat in a row, and the second on the trot while chasing, after failing to chase down a target of 181 set by the Super Giants at Jaipur’s Sawai Man Singh Stadium, their home ground.
RR were sitting pretty at 156/2 after 17 overs, needing just 25 more to win from 18 balls with eight wickets in hand and two set batters in Yashasvi Jaiswal (74) and Riyan Parag (39) at the crease. That’s when Avesh brought the Super Giants back into the contest by getting rid of both batters in the crucial 18th over while conceding just five runs.
Heart-racing, nerve-wracking, and simply unforgettable! 🤯#LSG defy the odds and seal a 2-run victory over #RR after the most dramatic final moments 💪
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 19, 2025
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/02MS6ICvQl#TATAIPL | #RRvLSG | @LucknowIPL pic.twitter.com/l0XsCGGuPg
And tasked with defending 9 runs from the last six deliveries, Avesh focused mainly on yorkers and full deliveries, getting rid of the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer in the second delivery and not conceding a single boundary in the final over.
RR needed four to win from the final delivery and Shubham Dubey struck the ball hard down the ground, only for the Madhya Pradesh pacer’s hand to come in the way, preventing it from going for a boundary.
Avesh copped a painful blow and couldn’t celebrate the winning moment, but was happy to have contributed to his team’s victory nevertheless.
“My hand is fine, thought I broke it, hit my bone, I couldn’t celebrate,” said Avesh, who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his haul of 3/37.
“I don’t want to become Mitchell Starc, I just want to become a good Avesh Khan. Yorker is my strength and I try to execute it. If I bowl with clarity, I execute it well. I don’t bowl looking at the scorecard. I didn’t want to concede a boundary in the first three balls. And the batters would be under pressure.
“I think about the team, I just wanted to win the match. This is a big tournament, I will try to bowl the same way in the remaining matches,” he added.
Veteran left-arm quick Starc had starred in Delhi Capitals’ Super Over victory over the Royals at their home ground earlier this week after both teams had finished level on 188 at the end of their innings.
These kind of matches build character: LSG captain Pant
LSG captain Rishabh Pant hailed his team, especially the bowlers for “holding their nerves at the right time”, and felt this dramatic victory over RR would take the team “to a different level” in the 18th IPL season.
“These kind of matches build character. It was an amazing win. As a team, this is going to take us to a different level. These kind of matches can build the character of players and team. These are the positive things we always talk about.
“Looking forward, I feel we are going to do better. All the credit to the bowlers holding their nerves at the right time. It’s not easy, especially in a game we’re always behind the game,” Pant said after guiding his team to their fifth win in eight outings.
Despite half-centuries by Aiden Markram (66) and Ayush Badoni (50), LSG had crossed the 150-mark in the penultimate over of their innings, and RR could have further boosted their chances of snapping their losing streak had they restricted the visiting team to a score in the range of 160.
Abdul Samad, however, took his team’s score to 180 with some explosive hitting, smashing an unbeaten 30 off 10 balls with 27 runs coming off Sandeep Sharma’s bowling in the final over.
Parag defends Sandeep over horror final over against LSG
RR captain Parag, leading the struggling side in Sanju Samson’s absence, defended Sandeep for having “one bad game” while adding that his team should have chased the target down by the 19th over.
6️⃣, 6️⃣, 2 6️⃣, 6️⃣#AbdulSamad brought the six-storm to Jaipur in the last over! 💥
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 19, 2025
With momentum now on their side, can #LSG defend this score?👇✍🏻
Watch the LIVE action ➡ https://t.co/3WHRLHgpYC #IPLonJioStar 👉 #RRvLSG | LIVE NOW on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star… pic.twitter.com/OwXmFyH7pu
“Feeling a little hard to process the emotions, not sure what we did wrong. We were in the game till the 18-19th over. I probably should have finished it in the 19th over, I blame myself. We just have to put one game together collectively for 40 overs, only then can we win. We did really well (with the ball), the last over was unfortunate, thought that we would stop them for 165-170.
“Sandy (Sandeep) bhai is trusted, he’s only had one bad game. Samad batted really well. We should’ve chased that down. Today was perfect, no complaints about the wicket. We were right in it, just a few balls can cost you an IPL game,” Parag said after the match.
The match also witnessed the debut of Vaibhav Suryavanshi , who became the youngest player in the history of the IPL at the age of 14 years and 23 days after coming in as an ‘Impact Player’, opening alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. The pair added 85 for the first wicket with Suryavanshi smashing 34 off 20 balls
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