With a nerve-wracking nine-run DLS victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their rain-shortened match in Lucknow on Thursday, Lucknow Super Giants kept themselves alive in the IPL playoff race with Mitchell Marsh hitting a scorching century and Prince Yadav shining with the ball.
The result gave LSG its first home win of the season and ended a six-game losing streak.
LSG posted 209/3. However, the target was revised to 213 after one over was lost to rain.
The defending champions were subsequently restricted to 203/6 by the LSG bowlers, led by Prince (3/33). Veteran seamer Mohammed Shami gave LSG the ideal start by hitting in the first over, which led to Jacob Bethell’s outside edge and early dismissal of the opener.
After three balls, Prince Yadav baffled Virat Kohli with an incredible delivery. The ball, which was traveling at 140 kmph, nibbled back and hit Kohli’s middle and off stump. Since being dismissed on the first ball against the Rajasthan Royals in April 2023, it was Kohli’s first IPL duck.
Devdutt Padikkal (34) and captain Rajat Patidar (61), who were reeling at 9 for 2, began a valiant comeback. Before Patidar abruptly changed course and destroyed Digvesh Rathi and Mayank Yadav with a string of massive sixes, the two kept the scoreboard moving with boundaries practically every over.
The two put together a 95-run partnership for the third wicket, and Patidar’s incredible strokeplay momentarily turned the tide in RCB’s favor. Prince was called back into the assault by LSG captain Pant just as the game seemed to be slipping away, and the decision paid off right away. The bowler removed Jitesh Sharma shortly after dismissing Padikkal with a quick caught-and-bowled effort off the opening ball of the over.
Aiden Markram made a brilliant racing catch four balls later, and Patidar followed. This led to a mini collapse as RCB lost three wickets in quick succession. With late blows, Tim David, Krunal Pandya (28 not out), and Romario Shepherd (23 not out) kept the chase going, but Digvesh maintained his composure admirably to protect 20 runs in the last over.
Earlier, the Lucknow Super Giants scored 209/3 after Mitchell Marsh hit a fierce century before frequent rain breaks broke their flow. The match was ultimately shortened to 19 overs per side due to up to three rain delays that caused a delay of over an hour.
Marsh (111 off 56 balls) put on an incredible exhibition of power hitting, first building a 95-run opening partnership with Arshin Kulkarni (17) to set the stage for LSG’s rapid start, and then scoring an additional 70 runs with Nicholas Pooran (38). The last flourish came from skipper Rishabh Pant, who blasted away to 32 not out off 10 deliveries.
From the start, the Australian opener appeared menacing as he unleashed a torrent of precise blows all over the field. He hit nine fours and as many sixes in his 56-ball knock, the most of which occurred during the powerplay.
Asked to bat, and with LSG’s chances of making the playoffs in jeopardy, Marsh came out all guns blazing, brutally attacking the RCB assault. Josh Hazlewood took the brunt of the early devastation as Marsh hit three boundaries in the pacer’s subsequent over after hitting two massive sixes directly over his head.
Rasikh Dar was introduced by RCB as early as the fifth over due to Marsh’s onslaught, although this did little to stop the run-scoring.
The powerful Australian persisted in his assault, hitting consecutive sixes before adding a boundary just to be safe. He dominated the scoring as LSG shot to 95/0 in nine overs and reached his fastest IPL fifty in just 20 balls.
However, a 30-minute rain delay momentarily halted LSG’s progress, and Krunal Pandya ended Kulkarni’s tiresome stay at the bat.
While Marsh reached his century with consecutive fours before hitting a booming six over cover point just as play was stopped for the third time due to rain, new batsman Pooran wasted no time in crunching Rasikh for back-to-back boundaries.
Devdutt Padikkal dropped Marsh on 110, but he was unable to fully utilize the reprieve and ultimately fell to Hazlewood at deep point. Now that Marsh was gone, it was time for the Pant show, as the skipper hit two sixes and four fours.
