RCB vs LSG: Nicholas Pooran’s 19-ball 62 headlines LSG’s sensational 213-run chase in tense match

Nicholas Pooran smashed a 15-ball half-century, the joint second-fastest in the history of the Indian Premier League, as Lucknow Super Giants chased down 213 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

At the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday. LSG won a high-scoring thriller by 1 wickets in the final over of the match after Harshal Patel’s unsuccessful attempt to ‘Mankad’ Ravi Bishnoi.

The LSG chase was rocked in the first over by Mohammed Siraj before Wayne Parnell struck twice in the fourth over to put them under further pressure. KL Rahul’s 20-ball 18 added to the team’s agony until Marcus Stoinis turned it around with a 30-ball 65. And then Pooran walked in and played some sensational shots to pull off a heist.

RCB vs LSG: As It Happened
Lucknow Super Giants had lost both their matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore last year. It looked like RCB would keep a clean slate against the Super Giants. Like they did against Mumbai Indians, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis gave the Royal Challengers a superb start. The two added 96 for the opening wicket before Glenn Maxwell joined forces with du Plessis to add 115 runs for the 2nd wicket off just 8.2 overs. Siraj and Parnell started brilliantly with the ball but Stoinis and Pooran played two of the greatest IPL knocks to script a win for the ages.

Nicholas Pooran has been in fine touch for LSG this season and on Monday, he brought out the batter which scares bowlers in this format. He was relentless in his attack just like Stoinis had been before him. The LSG innings lacked any kind of momentum during their Powerplay but Stoinis single-handedly kept them in the hunt by the end of the 10th over. After his dismissal, Pooran walked in and smashed 4 fours and 7 sixes to dash RCB’s hopes. Ayush Badoni, the Impact Player, played a matured knock before he got out in a freak manner – he hit Wayne Parnell for a six but ended up getting out hit wicket.

Intent After Disastrous Start
The LSG chase got off to a disastrous start when Mohammed Siraj dismissed Kyle Mayers for a duck in the third ball of the innings. Deepak Hooda walked in at No.3 to join skipper KL Rahul at the crease and the two were kept in check by the RCB pacers in a steep run chase. Soon after, Wayne Parnell made further inroads by dismissing Hooda and Krunal Pandya in the fourth over.

Marcus Stoinis was the first LSG batter to show any kind of intent – he smashed Harshal Patel for 6, 4 and 4 in his first three deliveries of the match. He also attacked Karn Sharma in the next over as the required rate continued to climb sharply for the Super Giants.

IPL 2023: Points Table

While Marcus Stoinis tried his best to get the LSG chase back on track, KL Rahul adopted a bizarre approach, scoring at less than run-a-ball in a chase that demanded 10-runs-an-over. The LSG captain was happy to push the ball for singles to put Stoinis on strike – the Australian all-rounder did everything he could and brought up his fifty with a six off Shahbaz Ahmed. Thanks to his rapid knock, LSG reached 91 for 3 at the half-way stage of their innings.

Marcus Stoinis was the lone warrior for LSG at that stage as KL Rahul decided to drop anchor. In a bid to catch up with the required rate, Stoinis played one shot too many and ultimately fell to Karn Sharma in his second over. Mohammed Siraj came back for his second spell and ended KL Rahul’s misery at the crease: the LSG skipper made 18 off 20 balls.

Pooran and Badoni Fight Back

The focus was now on Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni, the Impact Player for LSG. Pooran who reached the thousand-run mark in the IPL, kept LSG in the hunt with some superb shots – he showed the right intent in a huge chase and for the first time in the match, RCB were under some kind of pressure.

Nicholas Pooran went after Karn Sharma, Harshal Patel and did not even spare the seasoned Wayne Parnell as he raced away to his half-century off just 15 balls. He had the perfect partner at the other end – Badoni was nowhere near as explosive as Pooran but he still scored at an impressive rate as LSG stayed in the hunt, needing just 42 off the last 5 overs.

It was a special innings. Pooran was eventually dismissed for 62 off 19 balls by Mohammed Siraj and the home fans finally found their voice. Badoni was hit wicket for 30; the match went into the final over, Harshal Patel tried to ‘Mankad’ Ravi Bishnoi but Avesh Khan and Bishnoi ran off a bye to complete victory for LSG in a tense finish.

RCB Innings
Faf du Plessis was slow to get off the blocks while Virat Kohli’s innings gained momentum after he top-edged Avesh Khan for a six. Thereafter, Kohli hit some sublime shots to keep the Chinnaswamy crowd on their toes. However, Simon Doull was the only one to point out Kohli’s intent as he took 10 balls to get from 42 to 50.

Virat Kohli did give RCB the impetus but like Simon Doull suggested, he could have scored a little more quickly with a few hard-hitting batters down the line. Kohli decided to take on Amit Mishra in his very first over but was caught in the deep by Marcus Stoinis for a 44-ball 61. Faf du Plessis, meanwhile, also struggled to get going and it wasn’t until Glenn Maxwell’s arrival that the RCB innings really took off.

Both Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis hit their second half-centuries in as many matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The two added 96 for the first wicket off 11.3 overs, 8 days after a stunning 143-run partnership in a successful run chase against Mumbai Indians.

The real star of the RCB innings was Glenn Maxwell who smashed 59 off 29 balls to help the home team finish strongly.

Krunal Pandya, who had starred with the ball against Sunrisers Hyderabad in LSG’s previous match, conceded 35 runs off his 4 overs on Monday while Ravi Bishnoi was taken for 39 runs off his 4 overs. Amit Mishra bowled only two overs but he picked the big wicket of Virat Kohli. Avesh Khan was disappointing, giving away 33 runs off 3 overs.

Jaydev Unadkat was taken off the attack after bowling the first over of the innings for just 4 runs. He came back to bowl in the 18th over of the innings and was up against a well-set du Plessis and a dangerous Maxwell ready to swing his bat. Unadkat was taken for 23 runs and RCB were suddenly eyeing a huge total.

Glenn Maxwell has had the best time of his IPL career with RCB. After a strong opening stand between Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, Maxwell came out all guns blazing and reached his first fifty of the season with back-to-back sixes off Avesh Khan in the penultimate over. Mark Wood eventually ended the Maxwell carnage but not before he had smashed 59 off 29 balls.

From 96 for 1 off 11.3 overs, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell took RCB to 212 for 2 off their 20 overs.