The Rajasthan Royals were able to successfully defend a meager score and beat the Lucknow Super Giants by 40 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday thanks in part to Ravindra Jadeja‘s unbroken 43 off 29 balls and Jofra Archer’s outstanding haul of 3-20.

Jadeja led the way in a low-scoring game, helping RR reach a respectable 159/6 in their 20 overs. After the LSG speed trio of Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, and Prince Yadav each took two wickets, his undefeated 49-run partnership with impact player Shubham Dubey, who scored 19 not out off 11 balls, gave RR bowlers a chance to compete in the match.

The RR bowlers were flawless from the start in defending 159, which was the lowest score ever defended this season, and with the help of excellent fielding, they handed LSG their fourth straight defeat in the league.

With Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Bishnoi each taking one wicket as LSG was bowled out for only 119 in 18 overs, RR has now moved into second place in the points standings. Archer was backed by Nandre Burger and Brijesh Sharma, who each selected two scalps.

LSG chose to bat first but got off to a poor start as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi combined for six boundaries in the first three overs. However, Shami’s two consecutive strikes in the third over stopped RR’s blazing start.

Jaiswal attempted to hook, but he was dismissed by a sharp bouncer from him, and Rishabh Pant, who was in the air, stretched out his right hand to make the catch. As Pant dove to his right to dismiss him for a duck, one gave Shami two to bite away and take Dhruv Jurel’s outside edge.

As Mohsin finally forced Sooryavanshi into mistiming a loft to cover, while having Shimron Hetmyer to give a leading edge to mid-off, the pressure increased as he nailed his lengths and became the first bowler in IPL history to bowl a maiden over to the teenage sensation.

Prince then made sure there was no middle-order recovery by dismissing Riyan Parag, who holed out to long-on, and later removing Donovan Ferreira by having him caught at third man, leaving RR in a state of disarray at 110/6.

Prior to Jadeja taking control, the RR were looking at an average total. Jadeja started by waiting patiently, but in the last over, he tore off 20 runs from Mayank Yadav (0-56), who was making his season debut, to finish things off. Jadeja, backed by Dubey, made sure RR ended their innings on a high note, which seemed impossible at the 15-over mark.

The pursuit of 160 by LSG got off to a shaky start when Ayush Badoni was run out for a duck on the last ball of the first over after a huge mix-up. The second over saw Captain Rishabh Pant’s erratic streak persist as he top-edged off Burger to the keeper Dhruv Jurel and scored a three-ball duck.

When Archer came back from the dugout to dismiss Aiden Markram for a duck with a sharp bouncer, leaving them reeling at 16/3, the nightmare got worse for LSG as head coach Justin Langer headed from the dugout to the locker room. At the end of the Powerplay, LSG were out of breath at 31/3, despite Marsh’s six.

Mitchell Marsh achieved a 39-ball fifty in a single struggle but received no help. As the middle order gave way under the strain of a growing required run rate, Nicholas Pooran, 22, holed out to long-on off Ravindra Jadeja.

With a faster delivery, Ravi Bishnoi entered the fray to clean up Himmat Singh (15), before Burger returned in the 16th over to claim the big scalp of Marsh, who made 55 off 42 balls laced with six fours and two sixes. By dismissing Mukul Choudhary and Mohammed Shami in rapid succession in the 17th over, Brijesh brought the match to a decisive conclusion.

Archer then came back to add the final touches: Jurel made an amazing catch, which resulted in the dismissal of Mayank Yadav. Then, with a fast delivery that destroyed Mohsin Khan’s middle stump, he brought an end to LSG’s suffering and gave RR their first road victory of the current campaign.

Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 159/6 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 43 not out, Yashasvi Jaiswal 22; Mohsin Khan 2-17, Prince Yadav 2-29)
Lucknow Super Giants 119 in 18 overs (Mitchell Marsh 55, Nicholas Pooran 22; Jofra Archer 3-20, Brijesh Sharma 2-18)