Royal Challengers Bangalore. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)
The incredible action continued in the Indian Premier League 2023 as Lucknow Super Giants took on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Match 43 on Monday, May 1 at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow. It was a low scoring game, but RCB managed to win it in a thrilling manner as they bundled LSG out for 108 during their chase of 127.
RCB captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat first on a slow surface in Lucknow.
The famed RCB opening duo of Virat Kohli and du Plessis were restrictive in their approach early on as they were trying to get used to the slowness of the surface. They added 62 runs for the first wicket in 53 balls before Kohli lost his wicket while trying to up the ante on the last ball of the ninth over.
Kohli’s wicket started a collapse for RCB as no batter could come to terms with the slowness of the wicket. Captain Faf du Plessis (44 off 40) continued his valiant knock from one end while Ravi Bishnoi (2/21), Krishnappa Gowtham (1/10, 2 overs) and Amit Mishra (2/21, 3 overs) kept chipping away with the wickets.
Du Plessis was dismissed by Amit Mishra in the 17th over as RCB could only manage to score 126/9 in their allotted 20 overs. Naveen-ul-Haq was the pick of the bowlers for LSG as he picked 3/30 in four overs.
RCB’s bowlers set up fifth win of the season
In the second innings, RCB’s bowling attack was all over LSG’s batting right from the word go as Mohammed Siraj once again struck with the new ball and dismissed the dangerous Kyle Mayers on the second ball of the innings. Krunal Pandya came in at number three and tried to take the attack on the opposition as he scored three quick boundaries.
His innings was ended by Glenn Maxwell as he got holed out at long off in the fourth over. Matters got worse for LSG as Ayush Badoni (4 off 11), Deepak Hooda (1 off 2), Nicholas Pooran (9 off 7) and Marcus Stoinis (13 off 19) all departed cheaply leaving LSG reeling at 65/6 after 10.4 overs.
With the wickets all around, Krishnappa Gowtham took the aggressive route and scored 23 off 13 to keep LSG’s hopes alive. However, his innings was cut short due to an unfortunate run out in the 12th over. From there on it was curtains for LSG as they were bundled out for 108 in the second innings handing an 18-run victory to RCB. Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers for RCB as he picked 2 for 15 in his three-over spell while Karn Sharma (2/20) also picked up two wickets.
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