2 mistakes and 1 masterstroke by RCB in their IPL 2023 match vs LSG

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) succumbed to their second successive defeat in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) as they fell to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in a last-ball thriller at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, April 10.

Bangalore got their campaign off to a promising start against the Mumbai Indians (MI), but things have gone pear-shaped since then. Faf du Plessis and Co. turned in an abysmal batting display against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) before losing the plot in the bowling department while facing LSG.

RCB will know that they have a lot of issues to iron out in the upcoming games. With IPL 2023 promising to be a tightly competitive league, the three-time finalists will need to carefully analyze their performances.

Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by RCB in their IPL 2023 match against LSG.

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#3 Mistake - RCB's middle-overs slowdown cost them at least 20 runs

Glenn Maxwell could've done more damage had he come in earlier

RCB got off to another great start in the powerplay. Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis raced to 56/0 at the end of the first six overs, and the stage was set for a dynamic batting display in the middle overs.

Although two Krunal Pandya overs had already been negotiated by then, Bangalore slowed down. Only 18 runs were scored in the three overs immediately after the powerplay, and although the openers tried to accelerate thereafter, their run rate had come down to eight by the end of the 13th over, which was a maiden.

Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell did their best to recover momentum, but there was no doubt that RCB could've easily put on another 20 runs had they managed to sustain their early rhythm. Kohli, whose strike rate nosedived, must take most of the blame for that.

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#2 Masterstroke - Bangalore improved their team selection strategy and imposed their will on negative matchups

Virat Kohli tried his best to take on Krunal Pandya and Co.

RCB were absolutely blown away by KKR, and they did their best to recover from the drubbing.

Akash Deep, who was very expensive, was relegated to the bench. Wayne Parnell made his debut for the franchise to boost the pace-bowling lineup. They also brought in two spin-hitting left-handers, Mahipal Lomror and Anuj Rawat, to take on certain matchups.

While neither Lomror nor Rawat batted, Bangalore tried their best to learn from their mistakes. Krunal was struck for two fours and two sixes in his four overs by Kohli and Du Plessis, who are both known to struggle against left-arm spinners. Ravi Bishnoi was taken apart in his final over, while the pacers were handed a thrashing as well.

RCB may still have ended a few runs short, but their team selection and overall intent were worthy of praise.

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#1 Mistake - Faf du Plessis and Co. missed two run-out chances in the final over

With one run needed off the final delivery, RCB missed two run-out chances that would've taken the game into a Super Over.

Harshal Patel first missed the stumps while attempting a run-out at the non-striker's end, with Ravi Bishnoi well out of his crease. With the young leg-spinner being LSG's last wicket, the game would've ended even had the fast bowler managed to take off the bails.

Harshal then managed to beat Avesh Khan with a dipping slower ball, but Dinesh Karthik couldn't collect cleanly behind the stumps and even fumbled on the second attempt. Bishnoi made his ground with ease, sending the Bangalore crowd into shock.

The players' execution was near-perfect in the final over, but the two missed run-out chances cost them dearly.