[In Pictures] KL Rahul’s wife Athiya Shetty thrilled to bits as LSG beat RR in thriller

KL Rahul’s wife Athiya Shetty was thrilled to bits after the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) beat the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 10 runs in a thriller at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday, April 19.

Sharing a post to Instagram, LSG shared multiple pictures of Athiya attending the match. Acknowledging the post, the Bollywood actress dropped a heart emoji.

Rahul tied the knot with Athiya ahead of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The LSG skipper will hope that Lady Luck helps his side lift their maiden IPL trophy this year.

As far as the match is concerned, LSG posted 154/7 in their allotted 20 overs after being asked to bat. Kyle Mayers scored a half-century (51 off 42 balls), while skipper Rahul too contributed 39 off 32 deliveries. Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis also chipped in with 29 and 21 runs, respectively.

For RR, Ravichandran Ashwin emerged as the pick of the bowlers, returning with figures of 2/23. Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, and Jason Holder also scalped one apiece.

In response, a clinical bowling performance from LSG restricted the Royals to 144/6, despite fighting 40s from Jos Buttler 40(41) and Yashavi Jaiswal 44(35). Sluggish innings from Devdutt Padikkal 26(21) and Riyan Parag 15*(12) failed to win it for the RR.

Avesh Khan emerged as the pick of the bowlers for LSG, finishing with figures of 3/25, while Marcus Stoinis bagged two wickets.

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“We fell 10 short but made up with the ball” – KL Rahul after victory against RR

KL Rahul credited his bowling unit after he reckoned that LSG fell short of the intended target against RR on Wednesday. He, however, added that it wasn’t a 180 wicket, so they played slowly in the powerplay before unleashing themselves.

Speaking on the post-match show, KL Rahul said:

“We fell 10 short but made up with the ball. And there was no dew so made it fair for both teams. We came in here yesterday and saw 180 would be a par score, but the first over from Boult, me and Kyle had a chat and realized this isn't a 180 wicket."

He continued:

"The ball was keeping a bit low, so we gave ourselves time in the powerplay. Maybe if we played a bit better, we might have got 170 as well.”

LSG will next play defending champions Gujarat Titans at home on Saturday, April 22. The franchise will look to avenge the five-wicket loss to GT they suffered earlier this season.