Royal Challengers Bangalore rode the breezy 96 of skipper Faf du Plessis and the brilliant bowling of Josh Hazlewood to inflict an 18-run defeat to Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL here on Tuesday. The 37-year-old du Plessis roared back into form after a run of low scores with a 64-ball knock to help RCB post 181 for six after being sent off in bat. Pace spear Hazlewood (4/25) then took two wickets up front and two at the end as RCB narrowed LSG to 163 for eight to secure their fifth win of the season.
However, both Hazlewood’s and du Plessis’ brilliant individual performances may be a bit overshadowed by the chatter around the two-ball run that led to Marcus Stoinis’ wicket where a wide outside off was missed and he shuffled far too much into the next delivery and continue playing.
Nevertheless, RCB is now second in the points table, while LSG dropped to fourth place.
Opening the innings, du Plessis, who failed to put in a big score since his sensational 88 in RCB’s first game of the season, anchored the innings to perfection, only coming out on the penultimate ball of the final over.
Hazlewood shook up LSG’s pursuit early on when he cast a fine opening spell. Using the bounce and movement provided, he quickly took care of the dangerous Quinton de Kock (3) and Manish Pandey (6).
Consistent with his line and length, the Australian fast cast a frugal spell, conceding just 25 runs.
LSG skipper KL Rahul returned to the dugout shortly after Pandey, when a throw down the leg side kissed his bat and RCB chose to revise it. UltraEdge peaked and RCB broke through thanks to the brilliant review.
While Krunal Pandya (42) scored points at a good pace, he looked awkward against Glenn Maxwell and eventually fell for the Australian.
LSG was unable to string together substantial partnerships. Deepak Hooda (13), Stoinis (24) and Ayush Badoni (13) were guilty of wasting their starts.
Harshal Patel (2/47) took two wickets, while Mohammed Siraj (1/31) and Maxwell (1/11) each had a batter.
Previously, du Plessis had 11 limits and two sixes and played shots around the DY Patil Stadium.
The Super Giants invited RCB to bat and the bowlers managed to strike at regular intervals but had no answers for the former South African captain.
Sri Lankan right-arm pacer Dushmantha Chameer (2/31 on 3) delivered a fruitful first for LSG, taking the wickets of opener Anuj Rawat (4) and Virat Kohli (0), whose bat struggle continued as he stepped out for a first -ball duck.
Maxwell (23) looked set to continue his explosive run in the IPL. The Australian played a counter-attacking innings when he skipped Chameera for two fours and a six in the third.
However, the all-rounder went down after a quick cameo playing his favorite shot – the switch hit – as LSG took back control of the match.
Maxwell went for the reverse sweep of a Krunal Pandya (1/29) delivery but failed to make it in the middle, with a diving Jason Holder completing the catch as RCB slid to 44/3.
Young Suyash Prabhudessai (10) followed a few overs later, even as du Plessis kept RCB scoring at a healthy pace.
Alongside Shahbaz Ahmed (26), du Plessis added 70 runs for the fifth wicket, with the former playing the perfect second fiddle.
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The veteran batter switched overs of gear in the slog with Dinesh Karthik (13 not out), who is himself in imperious form, by his side. Together they took RCB past the 180 run. Duplessis came close to scoring his first IPL-century, but was fired by Holder with one more ball in the innings.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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