Rajasthan Royals

Morris was eventually signed by Rajasthan Royals - who he played for in 2015 - following a bidding war that saw four teams battling it out to secure the services of the South African all-rounder. 

His final price finished up at 16.25crore, which equates to around £1.6million, putting him ahead of Yuvraj Singh (16cr) on the list of biggest auction purchases in the global Twenty20 tournament.

"I'm super-stoked, super-humbled to be joining Rajasthan again," Morris said in a video message posted by his new team on Twitter.

"I had an unbelievably good time, and a good season, one of the better times in my cricket career, with Rajasthan in 2015, so I'm unbelievably happy, unbelievably excited.

"We have a very good squad, so joining up with Rajasthan is a very cool experience."

Royal Challengers Bangalore were big spenders in their bid to secure a maiden title this year, getting New Zealand paceman Kyle Jamieson for 14.25cr (£1.5m) having already signed Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell (14cr - £1.4m) for a fraction less than that earlier in proceedings. 

Jhye Richardson also collected a huge deal, snapped up for the same price as compatriot Maxwell by Punjab Kings, who added another Australian paceman to their roster in Riley Meredith, who has yet to play international cricket in any format. 

Having been released by Rajasthan Royals at the start of this year, Steve Smith is now a member of the Delhi Capitals, along with India fast bowler Umesh Yadav and Englishman Sam Billings. 

Moeen Ali saw a considerable rise from his base price, the England all-rounder eventually going for a final sum of £700,000 to Chennai Super Kings. 

While a premium was paid for pace bowling during the auction, the market was a little less frantic for batsmen. 

Dawid Malan – who sits top of the International Cricket Council's batting rankings in the shortest format – will play for Punjab Kings, but English openers Alex Hales and Jason Roy both went unsold. 

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is heading back to the Kolkata Knight Riders for 3.2crore (£315,000), while Krishnappa Gowtham went for 9.25crore (£900,000) to the Super Kings, making him the most expensive uncapped India player ever.

As for Mumbai Indians, the main additions by the two-time defending champions came to their bowling attack as they added Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. 

The 14th edition of the IPL is scheduled to begin during April and run into May. Last year's delayed tournament was staged in the United Arab Emirates due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Royals were on the ropes at 42-5 during their reply to the Capitals' total of 147-8, yet David Miller's fighting innings of 62 helped keep them in a see-saw contest in Mumbai.

His departure - caught in the deep trying to hit Avesh Khan (3-32) for a third successive six - left the score at 104-7, yet Morris delivered the knockout blows at the death.

Needing 27 from the final two overs, the all-rounder hammered four sixes – including two off compatriot Kagiso Rabada – to sensationally steer Rajasthan home with two balls to spare.

Delhi had suffered a poor start in their innings earlier in proceedings, a superb opening burst from Jaydev Unadkat, who finished with figures of 3-15, helping the Royals reduce their opponents to 37-4.

However, captain Rishabh Pant led the recovery mission for the Capitals, who were unbeaten in the previous five meetings between the franchises.

Lalit Yadav (20) and Tom Curran (21) made useful contributions down the order, while Chris Woakes finished up on 15 not out before playing a starring role for his team with the ball.

The England pace bowler removed international team-mate Jos Buttler for two early on, but the Royals – without the injured Ben Stokes, who will miss the rest of the campaign due to a broken finger – recovered to end Delhi's three-game winning streak at the Wankhede Stadium.

Morris shows his value

Back for a second spell with Rajasthan, who made him the most expensive buy in IPL auction history earlier this year, Morris demonstrated just why he was in such high demand.

Denied the chance to be the hero in their opening game – Sanju Samson turned down a single from the penultimate delivery against Punjab Kings, then got out when needing six to win – he benefited from some loose bowling from Delhi to cash in during the closing stages this time.

Pant down, then out

Skipper Pant rescued his team with a fluent 51 that included nine fours. However, when seemingly well set, he ran himself out trying to sneak a single, some smart work by bowler Riyan Parag seeing the left-hander dismissed by a distance.

Speaking after the game, the wicketkeeper-batsman admitted his team's score was "15-20 short", runs he could easily have provided had he not taken such an unnecessary risk.

The Indians retained their title in Dubai last year with a victory over Delhi Capitals, taking their record tally of IPL triumphs to a five.

Rohit Sharma's side will be the team to beat in a competition that will be played in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, having been staged overseas in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore look the most likely sides to prevent Mumbai from becoming the first franchise to win three consecutive IPL titles.

We pick out some of the things to look out for in what promises to be a mouthwatering extravaganza of cricket, which starts on Friday in a country that will stage the T20 World Cup later this year.

INDIANS PRIMED FOR THREE IN A ROW

The champions start the defence of their title with a blockbuster showdown against RCB in the first game of the tournament at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Mumbai will have to wait for Quinton de Kock's arrival as he is on duty with South Africa, so skipper Rohit will be expected to set the tone at the top of the order.

The India opener is the fourth-highest run-scorer in IPL history with 5,230 at an average of 31.31 and, although the 2020 edition was not one of his best, he struck a rapid 68 in the final. Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav played significant hands with the bat in Mumbai's 2020 success.

Trent Boult was man of the match in that win over Delhi after taking 3-30 and the New Zealand seamer will have a big part to play with the ball along with Jasprit Bumrah.

STAND-IN SKIPPER PANT CAN LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Delhi's first IPL final proved to be painful in November, but they will fancy their chances of going one better under the captaincy of Rishabh Pant.

The addition of Steve Smith, who was released by Rajasthan Royals, is a major tonic, while Umesh Yadav and Sam Billings are among their other new recruits.

Kagiso Rabada was the leading wicket-taker in last year's tournament with 30 at 18.26 and Delhi will need him to fire again along with fellow Proteas quick Anrich Nortje.

Ravichandran Ashwin should be on a high from his Test exploits for India against England, while the in-form Pant can thrive as skipper with Shreyas Iyer ruled out due to a shoulder injury.

MORRIS UNDER PRESSURE TO JUSTIFY PRICE TAG

Chris Morris became the most expensive signing in IPL history when he was snapped up by Rajasthan Royals for 16.25crore (around £1.6million).

That staggering fee put the South Africa all-rounder ahead of Yuvraj Singh (16cr) as the biggest ever auction acquisition.

Morris was 20th on the list of the leading wicket-takers last year when featuring for RCB and only batted five times, with a top score of 25 not out.

ROY TO REUNITE WITH BAIRSTOW

England batsman Roy went unsold at auction but was drafted in by Sunrisers Hyderabad last week after Mitchell Marsh withdrew for personal reasons.

Sunrisers coach Trevor Bayliss was clearly excited by the prospect of Roy and Jonny Bairstow forming a pairing that has served England so well.

Roy may have to wait for his opportunity or Sunrisers could tinker with the order, as captain David Warner and Bairstow have formed a dangerous opening pairing.

Kolkata Knight Riders' emphatic triumph 24 hours earlier had left the two-time reigning champions with a nigh-on impossible task of qualifying, Rohit Sharma's side needing to win by the small matter of 171 runs to squeeze into the top four.

They did keep those exceedingly slim hopes alive with a superb batting display, Ishan Kishan leading the way at the top of the order with a blazing knock of 84 from just 32 deliveries.

Suryakumar Yadav kept the big hits coming in the closing stages too, smashing 82 as Mumbai finished on 235-9, comfortably the highest team score in the competition since the 2021 season resumed.

Already certain to end up bottom of the table, Sunrisers started strongly in their reply but were never truly in contention, captain Manish Pandey's unbeaten 69 the highlight as they finished on 193-8.

The result means the Knight Riders join Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings and table-topping Delhi Capitals in the play-offs.

Mumbai show promise for the future

There will be no hat-trick of IPL triumphs for the Indians, who will be on the outside looking in when the play-offs begin. Any hopes of a miraculous result disappeared quickly in the second innings, Sunrisers opening duo Jason Roy and Abhishek Sharma made 34 and 33 respectively when Mumbai had needed to bowl them out for just 64.

Sun seemingly setting for Warner

David Warner has struggled for form this season with Hyderabad, averaging just 24.37 at a strike-rate of 107.73 runs per 100 deliveries before losing his place in the team. It seems it could be his last year with the franchise, as he thanked Sunrisers fans for a "great ride" in an Instagram post hinting at his impending departure.

The Trinidadian left-hander hit 13 fours and six sixes on his way to a brilliant 109 off just 56 balls to propel KKR to 223-6 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat by the Royals.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rinku Singh provided good support for Narine with 30 and 20*, respectively.

Pacer Avesh Khan was the best bowler on the day for Rajasthan with 2-35 from his four overs.

Jos Buttler then produced his second hundred of the season to help the Royals pull off the highest chase in IPL history.

The Englishman made 107* off 60 balls including nine fours and six sixes to help the Royals reach 224-8 off 20 overs.

It was a herculean effort from Buttler who scored the last 46 runs for the Royals.

Riyan Parag and Rovman Powell provided the most support with Buttler with 34 and 26, respectively. Most importantly, Parag’s innings lasted 14 balls and Powell’s lasted 13 balls.

Narine completed a good all-round performance with 2-30 from his four overs with the ball.

Full Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 223-6 from 20 overs (Sunil Narine 109, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 30, Avesh Khan 2-35, Kuldeep Sen 2-46)

Rajasthan Royals 224-8 off 20 overs (Jos Buttler 107*, Riyan Parag 34, Rovman Powell 26, Sunil Narine 2-30, Varun Chakravarthy 2-36, Harshit Rana 2-45).

Shreyas Iyer (43) and Shimron Hetmyer (28) helped Rishabh Pant's men to 154-6 before Anrich Nortje (2-18) led a disciplined bowling effort to stifle the chase.

After losing Liam Livingstone and David Miller in the powerplay thanks to slick fielding from Pant, the brilliance of the unbeaten Sanju Samson (70 not out) was not enough to keep the Royals' hopes alive.

Mahipal Lomror (19) was the only other batsman to reach double figures against a strong Capitals attack, Nortje and Ravichandran Ashwin (1-20) taking three wickets between them – as many boundaries as they allowed throughout.

After the Capitals lost the toss, Shikhar Dhawan was skittled by Kartik Tyagi after facing just eight balls, with Prithvi Shaw following in the next over, but there were no further slip-ups.

Hetmyer's 28 off 16 deliveries built on the good work of Iyer and Pant before a late flourish from Lalit Yadav (14) helped set a formidable target.

Once the Royals lost three wickets in the first five overs, the result seemed a formality, despite the best efforts of Samson, who hit eight fours and a six off 53 balls.

The Capitals are back on top of the table, two points above Chennai Super Kings ahead of their clash with Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.

'One of the best'

Delhi are now on a run of six wins in seven IPL games against the Royals, who are down in sixth in the standings but level on points with the KKR in fourth.

"If not the best, it is one of the best," Pant said of his attack after more exemplary bowling. "But we like to take it as one match at a time. There's a fair bit of planning, as a team we plan according to the batters, and execute according to those plans."

Little joy for Samson

While he did not get the support he needed at the other end, Samson did at least reach the milestone of 100 sixes for the Royals in the IPL.

He is the second batsman to reach that tally for the franchise, after Shane Watson (109).

RCB made it four wins out of four to go top of the table courtesy of a magnificent run chase from their openers at Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

The second-bottom Royals posted 177-9 in Mumbai following a poor start to their innings after Kohli put them in, Shivam Dube top-scoring with 46 and Rahul Tewatia making 40.

Mohammed Siraj was the pick of the RCB bowlers with figures of 3-27, while Harshal Patel claimed 3-47.

The imperious Padikkal and Kohli made light work of chasing down their target in only 16.3 overs, dishing out some brutal treatment in a sublime stand.

Padikkal made his highest IPL total with a sensational 101 not out from only 52 balls and Kohli was unbeaten on a classy 72 from 47 deliveries when RCB reached their victory target.

Big-money signing Chris Morris was among the Royals bowlers to suffer, going for 38 from three overs, while Shreyas Gopal (0-35) also struggled and Tewatia's two overs cost 23 runs.

A dominant win for RCB puts them two points clear at the summit in what has been a dream start to the tournament for Kohli's side.

Siraj strikes big early blows

India seamer Siraj struck two huge early blows as the Royals were reduced to 18-3 in the fifth over after being put in by Kohli.

He rattled Jos Buttler's off stump to send the wicketkeeper-batsman on his way for only eight and saw the back of David Miller for a second-ball duck, trapping the South Africa batsman leg before with a yorker.

Washington Sundar removed the dangerous Sanju Samson straight after he had hit him for six, before clean striking and improvisation from Dube and Tewatia - who had two sixes apiece - got Rajasthan up to a more competitive score than they had been in danger of posting.

Padikkal and Kohli put on a show

Padikkal was the main aggressor as RCB got the run chase off to a flyer, dominating the strike as Kohli ticked over at the other end.

It took Padikkal just 28 balls to reach his half-century and Bangalore had 107 on the board just 10 overs in.

Kohli clicked through the gears as he reached yet another landmark and Paddikal brought up a maiden IPL century in the 17th over, with victory almost secure. He cleared the rope six times and hit another 11 boundaries, while Kohli struck three sixes and six fours in a batting masterclass from the openers.

David Warner's Sunrisers had lost three consecutive games but ended their slump with an impressive performance in Dubai on Thursday.

West Indies captain Holder, unsold at the IPL auction but drafted in to replace the injured Mitchell Marsh last month, took 3-33 and also ran out Robin Uthappa in his first appearance of the tournament.

Sanju Samson top-scored with 36 and Ben Stokes laboured to 30 as the Royals could only post 154-6 after Warner put them in.

Jofra Archer blasted a quickfire 16 and then removed Warner yet again before bowling his England team-mate Jonny Bairstow in a rapid early burst.

At 16-2 in the third over of Sunrisers' reply it was very much game on, but an unbroken stand of 140 between Pandey (83 not out) and Vijak Shankar (52) consigned Rajasthan to defeat.

Pandey was the chief aggressor, hitting eight sixes in a brilliant 47-ball knock to move Sunrisers up to fifth, finding great support from Shankar, who hit the winning runs off the first ball of the 19th over.

HOLDER GRASPS HIS CHANCE

All-rounder Holder was given his opportunity after Kane Williamson was ruled out and he grabbed it with both hands.

He ended an opening stand of 30 by producing a sharp piece of work to dismiss Uthappa with a direct hit and then bowled the dangerous Samson with a slower ball, having seen the previous delivery disappear for six.

Holder was not finished there, removing Steve Smith and Riyan Parag from successive deliveries. He bowled 11 dot balls in an impressive start with ball in hand.

PANDEY PUMMELS ROYALS

Archer rocked Sunrisers with a hostile opening spell, Stokes taking a good slip catch to ensure his England colleague has dismissed the Australia opener six times in seven innings.

Bairstow also failed to hang around, but Pandey and Shankar took charge of the run chase with a stand that sapped the life out of the Royals.

Shankar was content to score at just over a run a ball as Pandey produced a masterful display of timing, power and use of the feet, reaching his half-century in 28 balls and finishing with a 176.59 strike rate.

Kartik Tyagi and Stokes were hit for three sixes apiece as Pandey put the Royals attack to the sword. Only Samson and Ishan Kishan - with nine apiece - have scored more maximums in an IPL innings this year.

The Titans scorched to a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals, getting home with 11 balls to spare as captain Pandya's man-of-the-match display paved the way.

He took 3-17 as the Royals were limited to 130-9, before weighing in with 34 runs as Gujarat cruised to their target and the IPL title at their home ground, the Narendra Modi Stadium.

Pandya was acquired after being released by Mumbai Indians, with whom he was four times a champion, and he said the Titans' success in their maiden season would be remembered for years to come.

"Obviously I count myself lucky. I've been in five finals, and I've won five times, so it's very exciting," Pandya said at the post-match presentation.

"This is going to be a very special one because we spoke about creating legacy and making sure that in generations to come everyone will remember this is the team that started this journey.

"To win the championship in the first year is very special."

Pandya bowled a steady line and got his rewards, before playing a reasonably patient innings, making his runs from 30 balls.

Known for his explosive batting, Pandya has reined that in at times this season and reaped the rewards, scoring an IPL career-high 487 runs across the campaign.

Pandya said of his bowling on Sunday: "For me it was all about sticking to the right length and asking the batters to play a good shot rather than me trying something and giving away a boundary."

When asked about his batting, and veering away from sky-high strike rates, Pandya said he was acting for the betterment of himself and his team.

"Any given day I'd take the trophy than me batting at 160 or 170 [strike rate]," he said. "For me, my team is the most important, whichever team I play for.

"I have always been that kind of individual. Outside noise does not bother me, and if I have to sacrifice and maybe have a worse season and my team still wins, I'll take that."

Rajasthan were looking for another Jos Buttler masterclass in Ahmedabad, but the English opener fell for 39 from 35 balls, Pandya taking the prized scalp.

Buttler finished the season as the competition's leading run-scorer, making four centuries and plundering 863 runs in all at a strike rate of 149.05 runs per 100 balls.

He achieved competition-highs in fours (83) and sixes (45), and was only sorry that the Royals fell at the final hurdle.

Buttler said: "I've exceeded all my expectations of this season apart from today, managing to take home the trophy we really wanted.

"I'm disappointed with that but want to say a big congratulations to Hardik and his team. I think they're very deserving champions.

"I think in good teams you have a lot of trust in everyone and I certainly have huge trust in everyone in our team. We all played fantastically well all season. We came up short today.

"I've lost plenty of finals in my career unfortunately, but today's been an amazing occasion and it's been a fantastic tournament."

Buttler spoke of the players' delight that crowds returned this season, having been kept away previously by the pandemic, and urged his younger colleagues "to soak it up and use the hurt from today to push you on further in the rest of your career".

Well Hardik, it seems the good times are back.

On Sunday, at their home Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Pandya captained Gujarat Titans to glory in the Indian Premier League final.

He took 3-17 with the ball and added 34 with the bat in an outstanding effort as the Titans beat the Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare.

Pandya had struggled to stay fit and make an all-round contribution for Mumbai, whose four retentions ahead of the IPL auction were Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard.

How did that work out for them? Well, Mumbai finished bottom of the table, while Pandya picked up the trophy as skipper of newcomers Gujarat, whose maiden season could hardly have gone any better.

Mumbai's decision might – just might – have been a misjudgement.

We all make those. Just ask Yuzvendra Chahal.

What might have happened here if Chahal had clung to a glorious chance from the fourth delivery of the Titans' reply to the Royals under-par 130-9, rather than let the ball escape his flailing grasp?

Shubman Gill escaped that scare off Trent Boult's bowling and went on to carry his bat, cracking the match-winning six off Obed McCoy to finish unbeaten on 45, sharing in partnerships of 63 with Pandya and 47 with David Miller, whose rapid-fire 32 not out from 19 balls steered the Titans to the brink.

Rajasthan's total looked for all the world like a losing score, and it proved that way, but for a while the Royals had to take heart from the fact Mumbai posted 129-8 in the 2017 final and still won by one run against Rising Pune Supergiant.

Jos Buttler made a team-high 39 from 35 balls for the Royals in this game, and that took the Englishman to 863 runs for the season, the second-highest total by any batter in a single edition of the IPL after Virat Kohli's 973 runs in the 2016 season.

But the Royals were looking for more from their talisman, who removed his helmet and shielded his face as he left the field, knowing his team were looking to him to provide an onslaught late in the innings.

Who removed him? Pandya, of course, with Buttler looking to glance away a lively delivery to third man but instead feathering through to Wriddhiman Saha.

Gujarat celebrated with understandable gusto. Buttler hit four centuries in the IPL season, as many as all other players combined, carrying them this far. But he was gone after 12.1 overs, angry with himself, and nobody else stepped up in his absence.

The Titans began their chase slowly but kept wickets in hand.

A dishy delivery from leg-spinner Chahal eventually removed Pandya, edging to slip from a ball that turned extravagantly. Pandya was despondent, but the Titans skipper knew he could rely on others to complete the job.

Pandya finished the season with 487 runs, his highest total in an IPL season, but most importantly he now has a fifth title of his career in this competition, after four with Mumbai.

"For me, my team is the most important thing, whichever team I play for," he said at the end of the game.

The Titans were thanking their lucky stars that Mumbai decided Pandya was dispensable. On this, and the season's evidence, Pandya is anything but.

Cummins sat out the 2023 tournament to focus on international cricket but became even hotter property after leading his side to the World Test Championship and last month’s 50-over World Cup on Indian soil.

Four teams vied for the fast bowler’s signature and Sunrisers Hyderabad ended up paying 20.5 crore rupees, eclipsing the previous high of 18.5 crore (£1.77m) Punjab Kings paid for English all-rounder Sam Curran last year.

Cummins, 30, had entered with a base price of just under £200,000 and saw the bidding war up his fee by a factor of 10.

Sunrisers had plenty of budget to play with having released Brook after one season of a £1.3m deal, with the Yorkshireman picking up a healthy but much-reduced payday with the Capitals.

He hit one superb century in his first IPL campaign but was otherwise badly short of runs with just 190 in 11 matches.

Woakes was later drafted for just under £400,000 by Punjab, joining his England team-mates Curran and Liam Livingstone.

Sunrisers also splurged on Cummins’ fellow Australian Travis Head, who capped a stellar year with a match-winning 137 in the World Cup final in Ahmedabad. He cost around £645,000 (6.8 crore) as he returned to the tournament for the first time since 2017.

West Indies T20 captain Rovman Powell was the first player to go under the hammer at the event in Dubai and fetched a surprisingly lavish £700,000 bid from Rajasthan Royals, while New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell scooped the biggest cheque of his career when he went to Chennai Super Kings for £1.3million.

CSK also signed Mitchell’s fellow Kiwi Rachin Ravindra, the breakout star of the World Cup, for a modest £170,000.

Batting first, Mumbai were struggling at 101 for 4 after 13 overs after Pollard was bowled by Shreyas Gopal for 6. At 7.76 an over, Mumbai were looking at a score of between 155 and 170. However, Pandya smashed 60 that included two fours and seven sixes while facing just 21 balls to propel Mumbai to a competitive 195 for 5.

What they didn’t bank on was Ben Stokes smearing Mumbai’s bowlers all over the park, scoring an unbeaten 107 from 60 balls and Sanju Sampson’s 54 from 31 balls to see the Royals race to 196 for 2 with all of 10 balls to spare.

Pollard, filling in for a second game for Rohit Sharma, who is out with an injured hamstring paid tribute to Stokes but felt for Pandya, whose heroic efforts were in vain.

“I thought Hardik brought us straight back into the game, but well played to Stokes and well played to Samson,” said Pollard who now has one loss and a win as the stand-in captain.

He believed the conditions helped the Royals more than they did Mumbai.

“The wicket ended up being a good wicket with a little bit of dew. It played into their strengths. But having said that, well played to the opposition,” said Pollard, who was not particularly concerned that the loss would impact Mumbai’s ambitions of being among the top-two teams at the end of the regular season.

“It really doesn't do much to the campaign, we still have three games to do. We just have to come out with good cricket. Our bowlers tried but it wasn't meant to be today,” he said.

“[Hardik] keeps showing time and time again, doesn't matter the position of the team. Tough luck an innings like that he ends up on the losing side.”

Pooran went to the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise for 10.75 crore (USD 1.43 million).

The Sunrisers will be his third IPL franchise after previously representing the Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings.

Jason Holder, formerly of the Sunrisers, will be suiting up for the new Lucknow Super Giants after being snapped up for 8.5 crore (USD 1.16 million).

Dwayne Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer were the only other West Indians sold on day 1 to the Chennai Super Kings for 4.4 crore (USD 583,953.04) and the Rajasthan Royals for 8.5 crore, respectively.

Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard were all retained by their respective franchises before the auction.

Indian left-hander Ishan Kishan had the honour of being the most expensive pick-up of this year’s auction after going to the Mumbai Indians for 15.25 crore (USD 2.03 million).

Day 2 of the auction takes place on Sunday.

The Royals were grateful to Shimron Hetmyer, whose stunning 59 not out helped them recover from 67-4 to post a competitive 165-6.

No team had successfully defended a total at the Wankhede Stadium in the IPL this season, but the Royals changed that despite some near heroics from Stoinis.

Trent Boult took two wickets in the first two balls of Lucknow's reply and, though Stoinis moved them to within 15 runs of triumph heading into the final over, Kuldeep Sen produced some excellent death bowling to help Rajasthan cling on.

Jos Buttler (13) and Devdutt Padikkal (29) put on 42 for the first Rajasthan wicket, only for the Royals to lose four for 25 runs in the space of five overs.

Hetmyer blasted six maximums in a remarkable 36-ball effort, receiving able support from Ravichandran Ashwin, who struck 28 off 23 deliveries.

A stand of 68 gave Rajasthan something respectable to defend, and Boult immediately put them in the driver's seat with the dismissals of Super Giants captain KL Rahul and Krishnappa Gowtham either side of a wide in the first over of the reply.

Despite Quinton de Kock's 39, it looked as if the game was up for Lucknow when the superb Yuzvendra Chahal (4-41) reduced them to 126-8.

Yet Stoinis, who hit 38 off just 17 balls, had Lucknow in position to deny Rajasthan, but Sen ensured there was to be no dramatic late turnaround, with the Royals now heading five teams on six points because of their superior net run rate.

Hetmyer's hot streak

Hetmyer continued his strong start to the IPL season in some style, reaching his half-century in just 33 balls, his pivotal display following scores of 32, 35 and 42 not out. His average of 84 is bettered only by Suryakumar Yadav (120), who has played two innings fewer.

Stoinis almost saves Lucknow

Stoinis struck four sixes and two fours in a destructive performance that almost rescued the match for Lucknow, but his final maximum came after Sen restricted him with three successive dot balls to clinch victory for Rajasthan.

Half-centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Shreyas Iyer accounted for the bulk of the Capitals' 161-7.

Ben Stokes (41) and Jos Buttler (22) impressed at the top of the Rajasthan reply but neither man could kick on and when Anrich Nortje (2-33) crowned a blistering fast-bowling display by bowling Robin Uthappa for 32, the task was beyond a Royals side who have now lost five of their eight games in the competition.

Jofra Archer gave Rajasthan the perfect start with a beautiful delivery that nipped back off the seam to bowl Prithvi Shaw from the first ball of the match.

That launched a stunning opening burst of 2-5 from the England paceman, who Ajinkya Rahane pulled tamely to mid-on.

Dhawan played with typical authority until his 33-ball stay ended in inauspicious fashion on 57 when he scooped Shreyas Gopal to Kartik Tyagi at third man.

Iyer passed fifty when a third umpire review showed Stokes had the ball in his hand and a foot grounded behind the rope when attempting to take a catch off Jaydev Unadkat.

The Capitals captain holed out for 53 off Tyagi next over and the end of their innings brought a clatter of wickets, with Archer (3-19) and Unadkat (2-32) the beneficiaries.

Stokes clipped the opening ball of the Royals' reply for four and he and England team-mate Jos Buttler ensured an explosive initial response.

South Africa paceman Nortje elected to meet fire with fire and, having been thumped over wide long-on for six and scooped for a pair of fours, he bowled Buttler to end an undulating nine-ball stay.

Rajasthan's promising start went further off the rails when Smith continued poor recent form by chipping a return catch to Ravichandran Ashwin for one.

Stokes looked in immaculate touch and hit six fours in his 41 before misjudging Tushar Deshpande's slower ball to be caught in the deep by substitute Lalit Yadav.

Sanju Samson hit Axar Patel over midwicket for a monstrous six that resulted in the retrieved ball being changed but the left-arm spinner had his revenge, bowling the big-hitter for 25.

Patel then accounted for Riyan Parag via a run out - a debacle for which Uthappa was unable to atone as his team-mates limped to148-8.

Pace like fire

The pitches of Dubai are rarely thought of as the ideal stage for the world's premier fast bowlers but Archer and Nortje put on a thrilling exhibition of their art. Of the five runs Archer conceded in his opening spell, only two came off the bat.

If none of the Delhi Capitals line-up could get the measure of Archer, the same could not be said about the Royals' batsmen's ability to deal with Nortje initially, as Buttler threatened to dispatch him to all parts.

The solution? Bowl faster. And faster still. The delivery that bowled Buttler and the one he ramped preceding it both touched 156 km/h. It was a gripping battle.

Smith gets it wrong

Normally so reliable with the bat, Smith's form has fallen away dramatically. This was his fifth single-figure score in six innings and the Australia star also fell short with his captaincy.

The decision to remove a rampant Archer from the attack after two overs looked questionable at the time and it felt like Delhi had been decisively let off the hook as Dhawan and Iyer compiled their crucial 85-run stand.

The Guyanese batsman made a 19-ball 35 that included a four and four sixes as he tried to get Royals back into the game after crashing to 31-6 after seven overs, chasing RCB’s 171-5. Former England captain Joe Root, who made 10 was the only other batter in double figures for Royals, who were skittled out for 59 in 10.3 overs.

Wayne Parnell was responsible for much of the destruction taking 3-10 from three overs. Michael Bracewell, 2-16, Karn Sharma 2-19 and Glen Maxwell 1-3 provided useful support in the rout.

Earlier, Maxwell scored 54 and Faf du Plessis 55 and Anuj Rawat provided the bulk of the scoring for RCB, who were recording their second win in their last five matches to be fifth in the league table.

Adam Zampa 2-25 and KM Asif 2-42 were the primary wicket-takers for Royals, who were losing their fourth in their last five matches.

RCB batted first but failed to capitalise on strong starts from Virat Kohli (33), Rajat Patidar (34) and Mahipal Lomror (32) as they finished on 172-8.

The Royals won with an over remaining, despite slipping to 160-6 in the 18th, as Rovman Powell got them over the line with an unbeaten 16.

"I think with the dew coming in the second innings, we thought we were a little bit short with the bat," Du Plessis said after the match on the official broadcast.

"It felt like we needed a push, a few more runs to make it even more competitive. So, I did think we were 20 runs shy of a good score on that pitch. But credit to our boys who fought really well, hanging in there right till the end. That's all you can ask for, a great fight.

"Batting first, it can be tough because the ball is sticking into the surface. You're thinking 190. But if you lose a couple of wickets, then the problem starts.

"What we found out this season is with obviously the extra batter and the longer batting line-ups because of the super sub [Impact Player], your par scores are really not what they used to be, especially if there's dew. So, we knew we needed a little bit more in terms of a score to challenge them."

RCB were the in-form team heading into the playoffs, having won each of their last six games to turn their season around, but they could not make it past the eliminator.

Despite falling at the first post-season hurdle, Du Plessis was still proud of the team’s achievements.

"A lot of teams would have probably fallen off after one [win] from nine [eight]," he added.

"We have got great characters in that dressing room, all of us really put our hands up with a lot of pride and a lot of fight in us to make sure we give our best and give absolutely everything we have. And to come back like that, winning six games in a row takes a lot of heart, takes a lot of character.

"So, it's a sad ending when it goes your way like that, you feel like is it possibly written in the stars that you could do something special here, but we weren't special tonight in terms of just pushing that extra 20 runs with the bat."

RCB's hopes of victory looked to have escaped them when they allowed Jos Buttler to put on another batting masterclass after his second IPL hundred – and the only century of this year's tournament so far – in the Royals' previous match against Mumbai Indians.

Buttler recovered from a slow start to score an unbeaten 70, ramping up the run rate over a final two overs in which he hit four sixes and Shimron Hetmyer (42 not out) added another.

Their unbroken partnership of 83 off 42 concluded the Royals' innings on 169-3, which looked a solid total at the midway stage of RCB's reply.

Faf du Plessis had been limited to 29, while Virat Kohli was run out, but RCB had enough batting talent remaining further down the order to reach 173-6 with five balls to spare.

A crucial 33-ball sixth-wicket stand of 67 between Shahbaz Ahmed (45) and Dinesh Karthik turned the tide, with the wicketkeeper-batsman sticking around to make 44 not out and complete the job alongside Harshal Patel (nine not out).

Buttler brilliance in vain

Explaining his performance against the Indians, when he bludgeoned 26 runs in the fourth over alone, Buttler said ahead of this match: "You are always looking for that one over that you can really target and go for."

Indeed, his had been just the second IPL century with a dot ball percentage of more than 40; failing to score off 41 per cent of the deliveries he faced, but doing the damage with big boundaries.

Although Buttler did not get off to the same strong start on Tuesday, it was a similar story again as over half of his runs came off six balls. Unsurprisingly, he regained the outright season lead in the IPL with 205 runs.

RCB retain hold over Royals

This was a fifth consecutive RCB win against the Royals; representing Rajasthan's longest active losing streak against any opposition.

It is a particularly painful defeat for the Royals, too, having looked on course to continue a winning start to the season, until bowing under RCB's own barrage of boundaries.

The former Test captain has eschewed red-ball cricket with Yorkshire in order to play a debut season in the white-ball Indian Premier League.

In a Rajasthan Royals side packed with talent such as fellow England man Jos Buttler and India's Ravichandran Ashwin, though, he is yet to play a game.

Root is unconcerned, however, seeing his time in the IPL as key to broadening his all-round game before two major contests later this year.

"When I was England captain, I didn't feel it was fair on the rest of the team for me to go and play, given what the [Test captaincy] role needed and what it deserved," he told Sky Sports News.

"Now I feel like there are more opportunities to do that without the responsibility, and I'm just trying to look to keep developing as a player. I love county cricket and I think it is so important for the English game.

"[But] looking ahead to the rest of the year, the chance to play white ball cricket out in India, ahead of a World Cup for England in these conditions as well, I think will benefit me hugely.

"You look at 2019 and how incredible that was with a World Cup and [The] Ashes. There are so many opportunities for players to do wonderful things and create unbelievable memories.

"They are the things that you play for, to be a part of some special memories and cool experiences and they certainly all lay ahead for us."

England will face Australia for the first time since Root stepped down from the captaincy, with successor Ben Stokes overseeing a dramatic turnaround in fortunes.

They will then return to India for the latest edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup, which they famously won in a dramatic Super Over finale against New Zealand in 2019.

Lucknow knew a win at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday would secure a top-four finish with one game to spare, but they slipped below the Royals into third spot.

Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scored with 41 in Rajasthan's total of 178-6 in Mumbai, with Ravi Bishnoi taking 2-31.

Deepak Hooda's 59 was in vain as Lucknow could only make 154-8 in reply, Trent Boult the pick of the bowlers with 2-18 as the Royals took a big stride towards the play-offs.

Avesh Khan struck a big early blow when he bowled Rajasthan's Jos Buttler in the third over, but Jaiswal and Sanju Samson (32) put on 64 for the second wicket before the captain fell to Jason Holder.

Jaiswal was caught and bowled in Ayush Badoni's only over, but Devdut Padikkal kept Rajasthan ticking with a couple of sixes and five fours.

Bishnoi (2-31) denied Padikkal the chance of a half-century, dismissing him for 39, and also removed Riyan Parag, but Boult added a quickfire unbeaten 17 after Jimmy Neesham was run out.

Neesham, playing his second match of the tournament, took a catch for his New Zealand team-mate Boult to claim the scalp of Quinton de Kock in the third over of the run chase and the left-arm seamer also trapped Badoni leg before first ball.

Lucknow were 29-3 when Prasidh Krishna (2-32) sent KL Rahul packing, but a stand of 65 between Hooda and Krunal Pandya kept them in the game.

Ravichandran Ashwin ended the partnership by sending Pandya on his way for 25, and Hooda was stumped off the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal, while Obed McCoy claimed 2-35 in a big win for the Royals.

Brilliant Boult strikes twice

Boult made it advantage the Royals when he took two early wickets in as many balls, preventing De Kock from doing damage and snaring Badoni for a golden duck.

He bowled 14 dot balls in his four overs and conceded only two boundaries, leaving the Super Giants up against it.

Three play-off spots still up for grabs

Gujarat Titans are the only side guaranteed a play-off place as the battle for top-four finishes goes to the wire.

The Royals do battle with Chennai Super Kings in their last game of the league season, while Lucknow must regroup before facing Kolkata Knight Riders.