Royal Challengers Bengaluru blended seasoned pace with fresh energy to dismantle Lucknow Super Giants, cantering to a five-wicket victory in their IPL clash at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday to keep
their campaign firmly on track.
A slightly sluggish surface at the Chinnaswamy, contrary to what was anticipated before the toss, could have complicated RCB’s pursuit of 147.
But once Virat Kohli (49) and captain Rajat Patidar (27) adjusted to the conditions and took charge of the LSG attack, the hosts cruised to the target in just 15.1 overs.
Kohli produced a familiar, commanding knock in the chase, scoring at well over 200 in the early exchanges as RCB shrugged off the quick departure of Phil Salt.
Kohli, who slammed four fours in a Prince Yadav over, and Devdutt Padikkal stitched together 57 runs for the second wicket, with the latter’s share a modest yet valuable 10 before he was dismissed.
Yet, the former RCB skipper narrowly missed out on another IPL half-century, miscuing pacer Avesh Khan to Nicholas Pooran at long-on.
Patidar, though, kept the momentum going with his trademark aggression — clearing the ropes twice in succession off Mohammed Shami and once more off Prince — enabling RCB to trim the equation rapidly.
Both Patidar and Jitesh Sharma fell while attempting to wrap up the chase in a hurry, but by then they had already pushed RCB comfortably over the line in the contest for points.
Before the batters took over, RCB had seized control of the match through outstanding pace bowling from Rasikh Salam Dar (4/24), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/27) and Josh Hazlewood (1/20).
Hazlewood’s figures may show only one wicket, but his incisive new-ball spell in the Power Play was central to restricting LSG to a below-par 146.
The evening grew even more difficult for the Super Giants when their captain Rishabh Pant was forced to retire hurt on zero after copping a blow on his left elbow from an incisive Hazlewood delivery.
Pant did briefly return later in the innings, walking back out when LSG were wobbling at 118 for five following the dismissal of Ayush Badoni in the 16th over.
He did not don the gloves in the second innings, with Mukul Choudhary taking over as wicketkeeper during RCB’s chase.
Hazlewood delivered three overs with the new ball in a miserly Power Play spell that read a remarkable 3-0-10-1, ensuring LSG crawled to only 35 for one at the end of the first six overs.
Apart from cutting short a struggling Pant’s tenure brutally, Hazlewood (4-0-20-1) inflicted more pain on LSG by dismissing out for form Pooran, who dragged the pacer on to his stumps.
The lengths of Hazlewood, who returned in place of Jacob Duffy for this match, was so immaculate that none of the LSG batters could find any space to get him away.
RCB will also heave a sigh of relief after seeing the Aussie back at his best after a lacklustre outing against Rajasthan Royals a few days ago.
He received superb support from veteran pace colleague Bhuvneshwar and Salam, who found appreciable swing to trouble LSG batters.
Mitchell Marsh played some big shots — two massive sixes off Bhuvneshwar, which sailed out of the stadium, and Krunal Pandya — during his 32-ball 40.
But Pandya cleverly reduced his pace, forcing Marsh to reach out for the ball which resulted in him edging the ball on to his stumps.
The Chinnaswamy stadium pitch was on the slower side compared to previous matches here, but certainly nothing was in it the batters could not have negotiated.
In fact, the LSG batters were able to take a good chunk of runs off spinners Suyash Sharma and Pandya on the night — 72 runs across eight overs.
Pant lasted only a couple of balls, whipping Bhuvneshwar to Phil Salt in the deep.
Badoni (38, 24b) and Mukul (39, 28b) tried their best to resuscitate the LSG innings but the damage done at the top was too vast to mitigate.
They fumbled in the last five overs too, making only 34 runs for the loss of six wickets as Salam helped himself to three wickets at this phase.
(With PTI Inputs)
