In the 43rd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 18 runs at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Following this victory, RCB cemented their place at the fifth spot on the points table with ten points.
The RCB skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat first. Both the openers Faf (44) and Virat Kohli (31) had put all their efforts into scoring as much as they could in the powerplay, but a slow and sluggish deck did not help them to hit with that intent, but somehow, they stitched an opening partnership of 62 runs. The leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi drew the first blood for the home side, as he got rid of Kohli in the ninth over. After the fall of the first wicket, the rest of the batters – Anuj Rawat (9), Glenn Maxwell (4), Suyash Prabhudesai (6), Dinesh Karthik (16), and Mahipal Lomror (3) went out cheaply and also could not help the skipper who was standing at the other end. After the first innings, the Bengaluru-based side put on a total of 126/9 on the scoreboard.
While chasing, LSG were one short of a batter as KL Rahul injured himself while saving a boundary in the first innings and did not come to open the innings. Mohammed Siraj once again gave an opening breakthrough to the visitors, as dismissed Kyle Mayers in the very first over. The batters from the Lucknow-based outfit did not look comfortable while chasing, and the wickets were falling in quick succession. Although Krishnappa Gowtham (23) tried to show some resistance, but was not enough, as the team fell short of 18 runs in the end.
With the ball, the bowlers from Bengaluru had a fantastic day, as most of them performed well to defend a low total. The Australian pacer, Josh Hazlewood and leg spinner Karn Sharma got two wickets each, whereas Siraj, Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Harshal Patel scalped one wicket in their pocket respectively.
In the first innings, LSG pacer from Afghanistan, Naveen-ul-Haq was the star with the ball, as he claimed three wickets, and on the other side, Bishnoi and Amit Mishra got two wickets each.
Faf was adjudged Man of the Match for his gritty inning on a surface that was not a batting friendly one. He scored 44 runs with the help of a four and six, each.
Scorecard:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 126/9, Overs 20, Faf du Plessis 44, Naveen-ul-Haq 3/30
Lucknow Super Giants: 108/10, Overs 19.5, Krishnappa Gowtham 23, Josh Hazelwood 2/15