The ongoing 16th season of the Indian Premier League missed out on its maiden super over but it didn’t deprive Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Lucknow Super Giants league match of a tense finish at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium tonight.
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Asked to bat first by KL Rahul (18), Royal Challengers dominated for most part of the match especially whilst scoring an innings total of 212/2 in their 20-over quota. Half-centuries from top-order batters namely Faf du Plessis (79*), Virat Kohli (61) and Glenn Maxwell (59) entertained the home crowd via yet another 200+ innings total at a venue with comparatively shorter boundary dimensions.
Been able to dismiss as many as three batters within the first four overs, RCB had managed to firm their grips on the match for a good part of the second innings as well until Super Giants all-rounder Marcus Stoinis (65) and wicket-keeper batter Nicholas Pooran (62) scored game-changing individual half-centuries.
RCB vs LSG Man of the Match 2023
It was Stoinis who initiated a comeback for the visitors on the back of a 40-ball 76-run fourth-wicket partnership alongside Rahul. However, with both of them getting out within four deliveries right at the start of the second half of their innings, Pooran came to the fore to excel in a match-winning 35-ball 84-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Impact Player Ayush Badoni (30).
A last-ball dramatic finish did require LSG’s tail-enders to contribute in a 1-wicket victory, the same wouldn’t have been possible without Stoinis and Pooran scoring 127 (49) with the help of 10 fours and 12 sixes between them.
Pooran, who hit four fours and seven sixes at a mind-boggling strike rate of 326.31, was adjudged the Player of the Match on Monday. “I want to dedicate this performance to my wife and new born [daughter]. We knew that the game was on. [Marcus] Stoinis and KL [Rahul] had a wonderful partnership. Stoinis kept us in the game and I knew this was a nice wicket,” Pooran told host broadcaster Star Sports Network during the post-match presentation ceremony.
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