Mayank Yadav and Quinton de Kock lead LSG to a 28-run victory over the disappointing RCB.
But Mayank’s explosive three-wicket haul (3/14) was too much to ignore as the hosts were dismissed for 153.
But in truth, due in part to their own stupidity and in part to the skill of the bowlers from Lucknow, RCB’s chase never really got going.
Manimaran Siddharth and Krunal Pandya, two spinners from Lucknow, opened the bowling attack, surprising both Virat Kohli (22 off 16) and Faf du Plessis (19 off 13).
However, Kohli escalated the game after pacer Naveen-ul-Haq was introduced, hitting him for six over the bowler’s head.
Soon after, the in-form Kohli was massively dismissed by left-arm spinner Siddharth, as the latter’s effort to go inside out was easily caught by Devdutt Padikkal at backward point.
the disappointing RCB.
After losing captain du Plessis at that point, RCB collapsed, losing Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green to a senseless run-out, and ending up at 58 for four in the eighth over.
Mayank picked up the tempo throughout this phase of his three-over spell (3-0-13-2).
When Maxwell attempted to pull a 151 kmph laser beam from Mayank, the Australian was unable to time his pull due to the fast pace, which allowed Pooran to make an easy catch at short mid-wicket.
Mayank pitched on good length to rattle Green’s off-stump, then his raw pace beat him as the delivery straightened out a little.
After adding Rajat Patidar (27), the right-arm quick reduced RCB to 103 for six, and the home team was rapidly losing ground.
Earlier, De Kock showed off his remarkable hitting abilities with a fifty, but Lucknow was unable to score higher than par.
To play his shots with accuracy, the left-hander chose his bowlers and places on the field, but the RCB bowlers did not let any other batters, except from Pooran, a free run.
In just three overs, the Super Giants reached 32 for no loss, and in the Power Play, they reached 54.
The majority of the runs were scored by De Kock, who had a soft spot for Mohammed Siraj, the pacer.
The South African hit him hard for three sixes, two off the same over, two strong pulls, and a neat loft over mid-wicket.
After entering the game as an impact substitute against Punjab Kings, KL Rahul captained the team. He got off to a poor start, scoring six runs off of his first ten balls.
However, Yash Dayal’s left-arm pacer hit him for a six, giving his innings impetus, and he later blasted spinner Maxwell for another six.
During this partnership, De Kock, who reached his fifty in thirty-six balls, continued to score runs as Stoinis hit sixes off Maxwell and Green, allowing LSG to continue.
However, the blossoming relationship came to an end when Dagar pouched on Stoinis’s clumsy swat. Shortly after, De Kock left, lofting Reece Topley to Dagar from long range.
At that point, the LSG was 143 for four in 16.3 overs and needed a few more runs to go to safer ground.
They came from Pooran’s last assault, when he biffed left-armer seamer Topley for three consecutive sixes in the 19th over and two more maximums from Mohammed Siraj in the final over.
