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On a Chinnaswamy surface which was a lot more sluggish than usual, Royal Challengers Bengaluru rocked up in style to beat a hapless Lucknow Super Giants by 5 wickets on Wednesday (April 15). The win took the defending champions to the top of the points table with their fourth victory from five outings - and their first over LSG at home - cementing their status as one of the teams to beat in the competition.
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@B2$ @B3$ 146 in 20 overs [Mitchell Marsh 40 (32), Mukul Choudhary 39 (28), Ayush Badoni 38 (24); Rasikh Salam Dar 4-24, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-27] lost to @B4$ 149/5 in 15.1 overs [Virat Kohli 49 (34), Rajat Patidar 27 (13); Prince Yadav 3-32, Avesh Khan 2-23] by 5 wickets.
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The bowlers, who made the most of a slow surface with a bit of uneven bounce in it to keep LSG in check throughout. Josh Hazlewood was typically metronomical but Rasikh Salam Dar was the star, using his slower deliveries to great effect on a deck that aided variations in pace. The J&K pacer returned career-best figures of 4/24, mopping up the tail with brilliantly-executed yorkers where he took a cue out of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who nabbed three wickets of his own. And while Suyash Sharma went wicketless, he extracted appreciable turn to keep the batters in check with Krunal Pandya snaring a couple of wickets as he reached the 100-wicket mark in his IPL career.
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LSG began positively even as Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram treated Bhuvneshwar, and particularly Hazlewood, with due respect. A few sixes came off their bats before Markram got a leading edge off a Rasikh full-toss on the pads to cover. Rishabh Pant retired hurt three balls into his innings, throwing a spanner into LSG's works as they were tied down to 35/1 in the Powerplay, right after which Nicholas Pooran dragged a short ball onto his stumps off Hazlewood, extending his nightmare campaign with the bat.
Ayush Badoni and Mukul Choudhary stabilised the innings with 30+ scores, with both unleashing enterprising shots along the way. But LSG lost their way in the slog-overs, losing six wickets for 34 runs as a relentless RCB attack ran through without breaking a sweat, with a couple of brilliant outfield catches also helping them.
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The LSG skipper found himself in evident discomfort against the short-pitched deliveries sent down by Hazlewood. He was rushed by the third of those and took a blow on his left elbow, wincing in pain. He had to retire hurt with even a bout of magic spray not doing the trick and did not return until LSG lost their fifth wicket. He managed a lone run before Phil Salt ended his stay with a stunning catch at deep mid wicket. Pant did not take the field later on as Pooran stood in as captain, with Choudhary donning the 'keeping gloves.
Elsewhere, Bhuvneshwar found himself off the field having copped a blow to his left finger while trying to stop the ball off his own bowling. It did not affect his rhythm with the ball later on, even as he admitted to finding it difficult to field with the injury.
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It was a chase and hence, Virat Kohli had to be front and center of it. Having picked up an injury during the last game against Mumbai Indians, Kohli didn't field in this contest and was injected into the chase as an impact substitute. He wasted no time in asserting himself with a flurry of boundaries, first off Mohammed Shami before tearing into Prince Yadav for four boundaries in the fourth over - a back foot scythe over cover proving to be the highlight. Kohli was on 35 off 15 - the most he had ever amassed off the first 15 deliveries of an IPL innings and his presence meant that Phil Salt's early dismissal was rendered null and void.
Kohli lofted a full delivery from Avesh to long on as he fell for 49, shortly after pocketing the Orange Cap, while Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma chipped in useful cameos that duly played their part. Prince and Avesh Khan combined for the five RCB wickets to fall but those were all but a consolation in an otherwise forgettable evening for the Super Giants.
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RCB remain at home, facing Delhi Capitals in an afternoon fixture on Saturday (April 18). LSG fly out to face the red-hot Punjab Kings in their own backyard of New Chandigarh the next day (April 19).
