At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday, the Lucknow Super Giants defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by a score of 28 runs, thanks in large part to Mayank Yadav’s explosive fast bowling performance. On a challenging surface, Quinton de Kock’s 81 set the stage for LSG to score 181 for 5. In reaction, RCB found it difficult to gain traction in their run pursuit. LSG also benefited from some excellent work in the field by Nicholas Pooran and Devdutt Padikkal.
Mayank Yadav’s infernal spell
If you thought Mayank was quick in the last game, he was even quicker on Tuesday, often surpassing 150 kmph and reaching a high of 156.7. However, Faf du Plessis’s choice to take a tight single after hitting straight to Devdutt Padikkal at mid wicket took him down even before he could storm through the middle over.
After a solid start, both of the RCB openers were removed by that point, but Mayank’s explosive play kept LSG at bay. In rapid succession, Glenn Maxwell was removed for rushing into a pull, and Cameron Green was tossed for failing to get off the ground. Anuj Rawat and Rajat Patidar, two Indian batsmen, had withstood his opening spell, but during that time the pacer’s impact on the score had diminished dramatically.
After Mayank was removed from the attack, Patidar temporarily went up the ramp, giving the RCB’s pursuit some much-needed momentum and optimism. However, Mayank came back to bowl his final over, hurriedly pulling Patidar to the pavilion. The pacer returned stats of 3 for 14 after delivering 16 dot balls.
What took place prior to that?
LSG launched the attack with two left-arm spinners, M Siddharth and Krunal Pandya, who both frequently bowled at speeds exceeding 100 kph, to take on Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis in an attempt to defend a nearly par score. While the opening pair was largely happy to work the ball around gaps and turn the strike over, there was a moment when Kohli went on the attack against Pandya. The pair scored forty runs in the first twenty-five balls of their partnership against an underdog, but Kohli’s attempt to hit out was met with a top edge to backward point.
Could the RCB retaliate?
When it looked like LSG was winning the match, Mahipal Lomror was called in as the Impact Substitute in the 13th over of the chase. Nevertheless, the southpaw went on the offensive, scoring 32 runs off of his first ten tosses. In the sixteenth over, he struck Yash Thakur with two sixes and a boundary. In the subsequent over, he struck Naveen ul Haq with another boundary and a six to keep the fight marginally alive. But LSG continued to chip away at wickets at consistent intervals.
While Mayank Dagar was out of the game due to a direct hit from a distance by Pooran, Rawat and Dinesh Karthik were caught by bouncers. In the 18th over, Lomror also eventually went out, hitting a straight shot to long off, thereby ending RCB’s pursuit. Despite a few sixes from Mohammed Siraj, RCB ultimately failed to reach LSG’s total by 28 runs.
In what manner did LSG begin their inning?
When Quinton de Kock went to bat, he wasn’t confused. He attacked the left-arm pacer even after Reece Topley had already dismissed him early in the opening over. He struck a pair of boundaries on either end of the ground after finding his groove and getting a top-edge that sailed for a boundary over slips. In the following over, he continued to assault Mohammed Siraj, hitting the pacer for two sixes, one towards fine leg and the other towards square leg.
On the other hand, KL Rahul was cautious with his strokeplay early on once again, managing only six runs off his first 10 deliveries, while he had stormed to 29 runs off his first 12 deliveries. When he struck Yash Dayal for a six down the ground late in the fifth over, the LSG captain finally found freedom. In the final over of the powerplay against Glenn Maxwell, he persisted in his aggressiveness and managed to briefly sweep the offie for a six despite Rajat Patidar getting his hands on the ball. But in the end, the dangerous plodding backfired when he top-edged Maxwell to the cover fielder.
Two pitches in a row, two innings in a row
And even after the powerplay, De Kock led LSG’s innings in the right directions. It was, however, divided into two segments: periods of intense productivity and periods of constriction. It was getting harder for the batters to time the ball on a pitch where it was hanging on a little bit. In the middle overs, Maxwell was particularly useful when facing the left-handed combination of Devdutt Padikkal and de Kock.
After the powerplay, Topley came back and twice defeated de Kock in the opening over. Even though Maxwell made an incredible diving attempt, the southpaw was unable to hold on after he mistimed a slog over the mid off fielder, giving him his first break. RCB gave up just 36 runs in the five overs that followed Powerplay, bringing their scoring average down to over eight runs per over.
At that point, De Kock began to set boundaries once more. Initially, he targeted Mayank Dagar with his bad bowling lines, and after that, he took out Cameron Green for 19 runs as the seamer was unable to get his lengths correct.
De Kock was unable to get enough support from the other end even as he raced to 81. Padikkal labored to make an 11-ball six. Despite a few powerful strokes, Stoinis’ innings was cut short at just fifteen balls. Nicholas Pooran had a similar early difficulties, managing just 8 runs from the first 10 balls.
The attack by the Poorans
Although it was expected that RCB would bowl wide off the crease, Yash Dayal was fairly successful in mixing up his yorkers, slower balls, and bouncers. He bowled two overs in the final six overs and gave up just seven runs. Ayush Badoni was caught at extra cover for a third-ball duck while attempting to hit out.
Pooran also failed to score, particularly in games against Siraj and Topley. However, he also made a few connections and fully utilized them. Pooran was dismissed by Anuj Rawat on the second ball after the southpaw hit five sixes and a boundary to propel LSG to 181, a total that looked manageable at the 13-over point but started to elude LSG by the end of the 18th over.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 153 in 19.4 overs (Mayank Yadav 3-14, Naveen ul Haq 2-25) were defeated by Lucknow Super Giants 181/5 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 81, Nicholas Pooran 40; Glenn Maxwell 2-23, Yash Dayal 1-24) by a margin of 28 runs.
What comes next?
After suffering their second straight home defeat, RCB is expected to travel to Jaipur with the hopes of turning around their situation. against April 6, they take against the undefeated Rajasthan Royals. Conversely, LSG will return home to play the Gujarat Titans on April 7.
