With games coming thick and fast, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are set to host Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Match 15 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. The much-awaited fixture will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, April 10.
Lucknow are currently third in the points table, while Bangalore, with one win and a loss, are seventh.
LSG will enter the game on the back of a win over SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their previous fixture. Hosting their second game at home, the KL Rahul-led unit won the game by five wickets on Friday.
On a rather placid track that offered enough help for the slower bowlers, LSG restricted SRH to just 121/8 in the first innings. As many as six SRH batters registered single-digit scores while Rahul Tripathi scored a gritty 35.
Krunal Pandya made merry on the ground, scalping thrice for just 18 runs in his four overs. Amit Mishra, who played his first IPL match since 2021, took two wickets.
Chasing the target, LSG went over the line with some vital contributions from Rahul (35) and Pandya (34). Despite Adil Rashid taking two wickets, the home side won the encounter with five wickets and four overs remaining.
Scorecard of RCB in their previous IPL 2023 game
Unlike LSG, however, RCB will enter the game on the back of a humbling defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday.
Chasing 205 at the iconic Eden Gardens, the Bangalore franchise were bundled out for 123 runs in 17.4 overs. RCB's chase never got going as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
Spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine wreaked havoc on the RCB batting line-up, claiming six wickets between them. Debutant Suyash Sharma picked up three wickets in his quota of four overs.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis top-scored for his side with his 12-ball 23 as there were only a total of five batters who reached the double-digit mark.
Earlier, RCB bowlers did phenomenally well to put KKR under dire straits. After RCB put KKR to bat first, their bowlers picked up five wickets for just 89 runs on the board.
However, much to RCB's disarray, Shardul Thakur then joined forces with Rinku Singh and stitched together a vital 103-run seventh-wicket partnership.
Thakur was the major enforcer, playing a blinder of an innings, scoring 68 runs off just 29 balls. Rinku too chipped in with a well-made 46 that took KKR to a fantastic score of 204/7.
Despite their poor day at the office, David Willey, who replaced Reece Topley for the game, was the pick of the bowlers for RCB. The English left-armer delivered his career-best bowling figures of 2/16 in four overs.
Faf and his troops will be looking to make a comeback in front of their home crowd and will hope for a much better outing against LSG.
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