Bowlers do the job as RCB defend 126 to go fifth

In the previous meeting between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants, 425 runs were scored in 40 overs on the batting paradise at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. On Monday night, LSG served a black-soil pitch on their home ground where the ball gripped and held into the surface. The result: 234 runs in 39.5 overs with RCB coming out on top by 18 runs.

After Faf du Plessis opted to bat, he and Virat Kohli set the platform by adding 62 in nine overs. But the innings never really came out of the first gear. Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Amit Mishra and K Gowtham combined to bowl 13 overs of spin and picked up 5 for 73 between them. Naveen-ul-Haq, too, reaped the rewards of bowling his cutters into the pitch and picked up three wickets at the death to restrict RCB to a modest 126 for 9.

In response, LSG had a nightmarish start. They were 38 for 5 after seven overs, and when Marcus Stoinis and Gowtham too fell in back-to-back overs, they were soon 77 for 8. LSG's only hope at that point was KL Rahul. He had hobbled off the field after hurting his right leg in the second over of the game. But by the time he came out at No. 11, LSG needed 24 off eight balls.

It was clear Rahul was not going to run between the wickets. He played three dots, one of which was a free hit, and then saw Mishra trying and failing to score the required 23 in the final over. A post-match altercation between Kohli and LSG's mentor Gautam Gambhir, though, took the shine off RCB's win.

After RCB scored only 20 runs in the first three overs, du Plessis and Kohli tried to break the shackles. In the fourth over, du Plessis hit Naveen for a straight six and Kohli followed it with a four. However, Krunal and Bishnoi conceded only ten in the next two, and RCB finished the powerplay on 42 for no loss.

Du Plessis and Kohli had put on 62 when Kohli decided to skip down the track against Bishnoi but reached nowhere near the ball. it also turned it to be a googly and beat him on the inside edge for Nicholas Pooran to effect an easy stumping.

No. 3 Anuj Rawat managed only 9 before being dismissed by Gowtham. That brought Glenn Maxwell, arguably RCB's best batter against spin, in the middle. On his fifth ball, he tried to reverse-sweep a Bishnoi legbreak only to get hit on the thigh and be given out lbw.

In the 15th over, Mishra had Suyash Prabhudessai caught at long-off, courtesy an excellent diving catch by Gowtham, to leave RCB 90 for 4.

After a brief spell of rain that halted play for around 25 minutes, Dinesh Karthik resumed by hitting Naveen over midwicket for four. In the next over, the 17th, he pulled a half-tracker from Mishra for a six and du Plessis also tried to take Mishra on but ended up miscuing his attempt. Krunal ran to his right from point and completed the tumbling catch near extra cover.

RCB were relying on Karthik for some late blows but Yash Thakur dashed their hopes. In the 19th over, Wanindu Hasaranga hit one back towards Thakur who fielded the ball and nailed the direct hit at the non-striker's end to find Karthik well short after he had taken off a long way.

Mohammed Siraj has been lethal with the new ball this season, and he once again struck early, having Kyle Mayers caught at mid-on with the second ball of the chase. After two overs, LSG were 2 for 1.

Krunal hit Siraj for three successive fours in the third to move the needle, but LSG lost four wickets in the next four overs. Krunal was the first to go, chipping Maxwell to long-off. From the other end, Josh Hazlewood removed Ayush Badoni, who had come in as Impact Player for Thakur and opened the innings.

Wanindu Hasaranga dealt a blow with his first ball, drawing Deepak Hooda out of the crease with a googly and having him stumped. Pooran started with a first-ball six but when he tried to go for another big hit against Karn Sharma, he holed out to deep square leg.

LSG still looked to attack their way to the target. Gowtham hit Karn for a six and four, and followed it with another six off Hasaranga. That reduced the equation to 64 needed from the last ten overs. But when Stoinis tried to go big against Karn, he sliced it to long-off. In the next over, Gowtham too perished, his casual running while returning for a second run leading to him being run-out.

LSG needed 49 in the last five overs with two wickets in hand. Mishra and Naveen were in the middle; Rahul was still padded up in the dugout. The required rate kept ballooning, and when Rahul finally walked in, it was too late because he couldn't run and Mishra couldn't get the boundaries.