Rajasthan Royals produced a convincing all-round performance to beat Lucknow Super Giants by 40 runs in their IPL 2026 clash at the Ekana Stadium on Wednesday. RR posted 159/6 after a late surge, then backed it up with a sharp bowling effort to restrict LSG to 119 and hand the hosts another damaging defeat.
Former India World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth was particularly harsh on LSG and their captain Rishabh Pant after the chase unravelled so quickly. Pant fell for a duck after playing at a delivery that moved away, and Srikkanth felt the dismissal summed up Lucknow’s night.
“The ball was moving around and Pant blindly nicked it,” Kris Srikkanth said. “He paid the price.” He did not stop there either, taking a brutal swipe at LSG’s batting collapse. “I haven’t seen bottlers as big as LSG,” he said.
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Rishabh Pant, meanwhile, admitted after the match that his side’s batting had again let them down.
“I think it is difficult to explain. Our batting is definitely letting us down, but we are disappointed as a team, as a group,” Rishabh Pant said. “At the same time, we’ve got to keep finding ways. We have to look for answers inside, not outside, but that’s how it is as of now.” Srikkanth responded sharply to that line as well.
“Has he turned into a hermit? The answers are outside, not inside,” he said. “Had he acknowledged his lousy shot, it would have been acceptable, but he blames thinking inside.”
LSG’s collapse had begun almost immediately. Ayush Badoni, Pant and Aiden Markram were all dismissed without scoring, leaving the chase in tatters early on. Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh tried to rebuild, but the asking rate kept climbing.
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Earlier, LSG’s pacers had put RR under pressure, with Mohammed Shami and Mohsin Khan extracting movement and discipline to reduce the visitors to a modest score. But Ravindra Jadeja’s late counterattack changed the innings completely, as RR added 52 runs in the final five overs to reach 159/6.
In response, Pooran was dismissed by Jadeja for 22, while Ravi Bishnoi removed Himmat Singh. Marsh fought hard for a half-century, but Nandre Burger ended his resistance on 55. Brijesh Sharma then struck twice, and Jofra Archer finished with three wickets to seal a dominant RR win.
