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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) climb to the second spot on the points table with a convincing 18-run win over Lucknow Super Giants at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai. After skipper Faf du Plessis’ 96 helped RCB post 181/6 on the board, LSG’s run chase barely stayed on track as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. While Harshal Patel conceded at nearly 12 runs per over, Josh Hazlewood stood up to the task and took four wickets to help RCB win by 18 runs.
Hazlewood gets new ball talking
Hazlewood did not let LSG get off to a good start. The Aussie pacer got rid of Quinton de Kock and Manish Pandey for single-digit scores in consecutive overs. Skipper KL Rahul started well but got out to Harshal Patel in the eighth over. DRS worked in RCB's favour. It caught a faint edge on ultraedge which sent the skipper back to dugout. He scored 30 off 24 deliveries.
Krunal justifies promotion
Promoted up the order, Krunal Pandya kept LSG's run chase afloat with few timely boundaries. Deepak Hooda played second fiddle to Krunal but with required run rate going up, he took the risk against Mohammed Siraj in the 13th over. Suyash Prabhudessai made good ground to get to the ball at deep backward point to take the catch. Hooda added 13 runs to score off 14 deliveries.
Sent ahead of Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni did not look in his usual finishing touch either. In the next over, Glenn Maxwell got Krunal's wicket. The southpaw missed out on a scoring opportunity by finding the fielder in the deep perfectly. He got out for 42 runs off 28 deliveries.
No firepower in slog overs
Stoinis walked out to bat with a mission to take the run chase head-on. The Aussie hit Wanindu Hasaranga for a six in the 16th over. Meanwhile, Badoni succumbed to the pressure and got dismissed by Hazlewood. The equation started to tilt in RCB's favour with 44 runs needed off 18 deliveries. He got a couple more boundaries but could not take on his fellow countryman Hazlewood. The all-rounder got out after a 15-ball 24 cameo in the penultimate over.
Hazlewood's perfect over left too much to score in the final over. Jason Holder struck a couple of sixes off Harshal in the last over but scoring 31 runs alone was too big a task for him. He got out off the penultimate delivery for a nine-ball 16.
Chameera gets big guns
After opting to field first, LSG players had their tails up right away. Dushmantha Chameera got rid of opener Anuj Rawat and former skipper Virat Kohli off consecutive deliveries. Kohli registered his first IPL golden duck in five years. From 7/2, Maxwell helped RCB maintain a good scoring rate in the powerplay overs.
However, his onslaught ended in the sixth over when his mistimed reverse sweep was plucked out of thin air by Jason Holder diving to his left at short third man. Maxwell contributed 23 runs off 11 deliveries. 12 balls later, Prabhudessai lost his wicket to Holder for a disappointing score.
Du Plessis show
In the middle overs, Du Plessis and Shahbaz Ahmed stitched a crucial partnership of 70 runs for the fifth wicket. Meanwhile, Du Plessis got to his half-century from 40 deliveries. He accelerated after reaching the fifty-run mark and took on spinners Ravi Bishnoi, Krunal. Shahbaz got out right after the start of slog overs after a mix-up with skipper. The southpaw contributed with a 22-ball 26.
While Du Plessis was at the crease, Dinesh Karthik did not get enough strike. The Proteas batter scored a few boundaries and got close to his maiden IPL century. Holder did not let the former South Africa skipper get to three figures. Holder got his wicket off the penultimate over of the innings.
On the other end, Karthik remained unbeaten for eight-ball 13. Du Plessis' 64-ball 96 helped RCB post 181/6 on the board.
For LSG, Holder and Chameera took a couple of wickets. The most expensive bowler turned out to be leg-spinner Bishnoi as he conceded 47 runs from his quota of four overs.
