RCB come out on top in a low-scoring thriller against LSG

In a thrilling turnaround of affairs, defending a very modest total of 126, the Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 18 runs against the Lucknow Super Giants in their own backyard, extending their dominating run against the latter to a glistening 3-1 margin.

Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to bat first on a track that had ample on offer for the slow bowlers. The opening partnership of Faf and Virat Kohli got RCB off to a decent start but through a cautious approach on a mercurial track. The duo of Kohli and Faf posted 62 runs for the opening wicket with the former being the first to depart against Ravi Bishnoi for 31 from 30 balls.

The fall of Kohli triggered a collapse for the Royal Challengers that saw their remaining batting line-up crumble like a house of cards as Dinesh Karthik (16) was the only other batter to amass double-figures alongside Faf’s 44. The Royal Challengers Bangalore could only amass 126/9 from their quota of 20 overs.

Unfortunately for the home team, a few overs into RCB’s innings, they were dealt a major blow with skipper KL Rahul going off the field owing to a hamstring concern. In his absence, impact substitute Ayush Badoni opened the batting with Kyle Mayers, but RCB struck swiftly as the mighty West Indians holed out to Anuj Rawat off Mohammed Siraj’s bowling in the very first over.

Faf du Plessis’ astute call of bringing on Glenn Maxwell dealt a telling blow to the LSG aspirations with Krunal Pandya getting out after playing the ball straight down Virat Kohli’s throat for just 14 runs.

Josh Hazlewood announced his return to the XI in scintillating fashion as he got the better of Badoni (4), while Deepak Hooda (1) couldn’t trouble the scorers for long either as Wanindu Hasaranga produced an absolute jaffa to beat his bat and Karthik was swift behind the stumps to take the bails off in a flash.

While the RCB bowlers ran riot through the LSG batting, it was an evening headlined by Kohli’s aggression that seemed to inspire not just his teammates but also got the fans involved, backing the team to the hilt despite the game taking place in Lucknow.

The game wasn’t close to over though as at the crease stood the pair of Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran, who tried to fight off the RCB invasion like they did last time but it was not meant to be as Karn Sharma dealt a double whammy to bag both the overseas players for cheap while Krishnappa Gowtham’s solitary effort to fight off the RCB sortie would fizzle into oblivion after he was run out for 23.

Despite a late lunge of desperation from Amit Mishra and Naveen ul Haq, it was not to be for the Lucknow Super Giants as the RCB bowlers propelled RCB to an 18-run win, taking the team’s points tally to 10 that also moved the team to 5th place on the IPL 2023 points table.