RCB caused an upset by defeating the home team LSG in a low-scoring encounter on Monday. Despite the pitch being unfavorable for batting, RCB’s bowlers utilized the opportunity to their advantage and successfully defended a meager target against LSG, who had previously registered the second-highest total in IPL.
The ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 has been enthralling so far, providing cricket enthusiasts with nail-biting encounters. One such match took place at Lucknow’s home ground, where the high-flying Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) faced off against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). They successfully defended their 126/9 on the scoreboard. It was because of skillful bowlers who led RCB to win the match against LSG at Ekana Sports City stadium.
The RCB bowlers Josh Hazelwood and Karn Sharma have outstanding performances with cool bowling figures of 2/15 and 2/20, respectively. Meanwhile, LSG’s poor batting performance failed them to achieve their target of 127 on the scoreboard and got restricted by RCB to 108 all out.
RCB’s performance
For the ninth time this season, RCB’s star-studded Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli started with a bang after winning the toss and choosing to bat first. They have given a good start by scoring 31 (30) and 44 (40), respectively. Although their batting performance was not up to the mark, they have shown resilience in bowling and restricting LSG to 108. They successfully defended their total 126/9 on the scoreboard.
Lucknow Super Giants’ captain KL Rahul suffered a leg injury while chasing the ball in the second over and had to be taken off the field due to the pain. Despite this setback, RCB’s opening pair of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli got off to a flying start, adding 62 runs for the first wicket before Ravi Bishnoi dismissed Kohli stumped on 31. However, RCB struggled to maintain their momentum on a challenging pitch, losing three more wickets to spinners in the next six overs.
Naveen ul Haq then came into the attack and put RCB on the back foot by taking three wickets for 30 runs in his four overs. Captain Faf du Plessis was the only batsman who managed to put up a fight, scoring 44 runs off 30 balls.
With the bowlers dominating proceedings, RCB could only manage a modest total of 126 for nine in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to some disciplined bowling by the LSG bowlers.
LSG’s performance
LSG’s bowling skills are amazing and met with excellence when they restricted RCB’s total 126/9 of 20 overs. It was because of Naveen Ul-Haq and Ravi Bishnoi’s good bowling figures of 3/30 and 2/21 respectively.
In the absence of regular skipper KL Rahul, left-handed Krunal Pandya opened the innings with the in-form Kyle Mayers. However, Mohammed Siraj shocked everyone by dismissing Mayers on just the second ball of the match. This was just the beginning of LSG’s troubles, as they lost four more wickets within seven overs.
With the hosts struggling at 38 for five and a batter short, the chase seemed beyond their reach. Marcus Stoinis and all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham tried to rescue the situation, but they eventually fell to some excellent bowling and fielding by RCB.
Although Naveen and Amit Mishra gave LSG hope of a miraculous comeback, the return of Josh Hazlewood saw him dismissing the Afghan bowler. Injured KL Rahul was forced to come in at number 11 and couldn’t find the runs he needed to help LSG cross the finish line, falling short of the target by 18 runs.
In the end of the match at Ekana Sports City stadium, Lucknow Faf Du Plessis became the Man of the Match for his excellent batting performance on Monday.