Rajasthan Royals (RR) suffered a narrow two-run defeat against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Match 36 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Saturday (April 19).

LSG skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and opted to bat first. Half-centuries from Aiden Markram (66 in 45 balls, with five fours and three sixes), Ayush Badoni (50 in 34 balls, with five fours and a six) and a cameo from Abdul Samad (30* in 10 balls, with four sixes) took the visitors to 180/5 in 20 overs.

In reply, RR got off to a fabulous start with Yashasvi Jaiswal combining with 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi to add 85 runs for the first wicket.

On his IPL debut, Suryavanshi hit the first delivery he faced for a huge six over covers. He went on to score 34 off just 20 balls, including three sixes and two fours. Jaiswal slammed 74 off 52 balls and at one stage, RR were cruising in the chase.

However, the inaugural IPL champions fell agonizingly short as LSG bowlers fought back brilliantly in the last three overs, not allowing the hosts to score 25 runs.

After the game, RR’s stand-in skipper Riyan Parag held himself accountable for the defeat. While Parag scored 39 off 26 balls batting at No. 4, he failed to take his team over the finishing line.

“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," Parag said in a conversation with the broadcasters.

RR bowlers did well to keep LSG’s swashbuckling batters quiet. However, Abdul Samad smacked four sixes in the final over of the innings against Sandeep Sharma to give LSG a competitive total to defend.

“We did really well (with the ball), the last over was unfortunate, thought that we would stop them for 165-170. Sandy (Sandeep Sharma) bhai is trusted, he’s only had one bad game. Samad batted really well," Parag said.

“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," he added.

It was Royals’ fourth loss on the trot. They are currently languishing at the eighth spot on the 10-team points table, with only two wins under their belt from eight outings.