The 15th match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) took place between the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, April 10.
KL Rahul won the toss for LSG and chose to bowl first. Avesh Khan and Mark Wood made a return to the playing XI. Quinton de Kock, however, was still not part of the playing XI.
The hosts began on a bright note with Virat Kohli looking in glorious touch. The former skipper scored his second fifty of the campaign and forged a brilliant opening partnership.
The run-scoring spree did not stop as Glenn Maxwell joined the party while Faf du Plessis exploded as well. Both batters dealt with boundaries in their ruthless partnership for the second wicket to help the team post 212/2 in their 20 overs.
LSG had a rough start to the run chase as the RCB bowlers were potent once again in the powerplay. The hosts were on top after reducing the chasing side to 23/3 at one stage. RCB were then dented by LSG's overseas stars - Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran, who both scored explosive fifties to take the team closer to the winning line.
After several twists and turns, LSG prevailed with a last-ball single courtesy of a blunder by Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps.
#1 Amit Mishra dismisses Virat Kohli
Amit Mishra, 40, is making quite an impression in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Lucknow Super Giants.
After a tight spell and a brilliant catch in LSG's win over the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), the veteran stepped up with yet another quality outing at the Chinnaswamy against RCB.
The leg-spinner was introduced into the bowling attack in the 11th over, and got the prized wicket of Virat Kohli off just his third delivery. The ace batter was looking to shift gears and tried to challenge the midwicket area following a flat shortish delivery, but could only find Marcus Stoinis in the deep instead.
Mishra conceded only five runs off his first over but had to bear the brunt of the rampant Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell to concede 13 runs off his next over. He was then substituted after 16 overs, with Ayush Badoni replacing him instead.
#2 Faf du Plessis tonks the ball out of the stadium with a 115-meter six
Faf du Plessis struggled initially and played second fiddle while Virat Kohli took on the bowlers. He slowly got into the groove and took the initiative after the ace batter departed following his fifty.
He took on Ravi Bishnoi in the 15th over, hitting two consecutive sixes, with the second one being a gigantic 115-meter six, which cleared the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Both RCB batters at the middle were amazed by the ferocity of the hit, leaving them in complete awe.
The leg-spinner dropped the ball short, leading du Plessis to go on the backfoot and slog it over long-on with the sweetest of connections to register the biggest six of IPL 2023 so far.
#3 Ayush Badoni's hit-wicket and Dinesh Karthik's last ball fumble
RCB and LSG put on an absolute clinic to produce one of the best matches of IPL 2023. The topsy-turvy contest was not destined to go until the final over at the rate with which Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni were negotiating the run chase in the death overs.
RCB brought the game back from dead after Badoni was dismissed through a hit-wicket. The youngster executed an unorthodox shot off Wayne Parnell to perfection, but he clipped the stumps in his follow-through to send the game into the final over.
With one needed off the final delivery, Harshal Patel attempted to run out Ravi Bishnoi at the non-striker's end, but could not execute it.
The final ball resulted in utter chaos as Avesh Khan missed the delivery while Dinesh Karthik fumbled the take behind the stumps, leading to LSG completing the run and attaining a thrilling win over RCB in IPL 2023.
Looking for fast live cricket scores? Download CricRocket and get fast score updates, top-notch commentary in-depth match stats & much more! 🚀☄️