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Rishabh Pant's maiden century for Lucknow Super Giants went in vain as Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated them by six wickets at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. With this win, RCB confirmed their spot in the top-2 in the points table. The franchise will now face Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the qualifier, which will take place on May 29, Thursday at Mullanpur Stadium, Chandigarh.
While chasing a mammoth total of 228 runs, the Bengaluru-based franchise were off to a good start, but Akash Maharaj picked up Phil Salt's wicket in the sixth over. After Salt's wicket, it seemed like LSG made a comeback as William O'Rourke picked Rajat Patidar and Liam Livingstone's wicket in the eighth over.
However, Kohli 954 off 30) was steady for the chase before Avesh Khan picked his wicket in the 12th over. Kohli tried to get forward to loft and was unable to time the ball. The bat turns in his hand, and that foils the timing, long-off was back, and he picks him out to perfection. Badoni bent a bit low and took it easily. After Kohli's wicket, Jitesh Sharma and Mayank Agarwal's 107-run stand helped the Bengaluru-based franchise to chase down the total in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, after being asked to bat, Pant (118 not out, 61b, 11x4, 8x6) and Marsh (67, 37b) added 152 runs for an impressive second wicket stand as the Super Giants made the most of a fine pitch and some wayward bowling by RCB.
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Throughout this season, Pant struggled to find his range, striking at a mere 107, and the skipper's underwhelming efforts with the bat had a huge impact on the fortunes of the Lucknow side.
But Pant rewrote the script on the night, hitting the ball with the required amount of power and his strike-rate was hovering around 200.
Once he refrained from over-hitting the ball, timing too returned to Pant's batting automatically.
The left-hander started the carnage by clattering Yash Dayal for 18 runs in the fourth over that included a sequence of 6, 4,4.
Pant only grew in confidence from that point, and it rubbed on his partner Marsh as well.
The Aussie batter started a bit slow, reaching 19 off his first 16 balls, but from there, 'Bison' took his batting to a different level, starting with a pulled six off Romario Shepherd.
Pant soon reached his fifty-second of the season for him, off 29 balls, hitting leg-spinner Suyash Sharma for two successive fours.
Marsh, who crossed 600 runs for his finest IPL season in a decade, went past his fifty in 31 balls with a six off Suyash.
However, Marsh could not go further as he snicked Bhuvneshwar Kumar to stumper Jitesh Sharma, who once again stood as stand-in skipper as Rajat Patidar was used as an Impact Sub.
But that had not much effect on Pant as he motored on and brought up his first hundred of the season, and second overall in seven years, in 54 balls with a boundary off Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
It was a special way to get to a landmark, too, carving an outside off-stump delivery over covers for a four. Pant celebrated in style too — a beaming style followed by an acrobatic somersault.
Brief Scores:
Lucknow Super Giants: 227/3 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 118 not out, Mitchell Marsh 67).
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 230/4 in 18.4 overs (Virat Kohli 54, Jitesh Sharma 85 not out, Mayank Agarawal 41 not out).
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