Cricket

Cricket   |   April 11, 2023

IPL 2023: Pooran, Stoinis’ heroics sink RCB ship in Bengaluru 

Lucknow Super Giants secured their second consecutive win after a sensational one-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 15th match of the TATA IPL 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The match was filled with drama, as RCB’s top-order batsmen, Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell propelled their team to a challenging total of 212/2. In response, Lucknow Super Giants were off to a shaky start, losing the in-form Kyle Mayers to Mohd. Siraj in the third ball of the innings. The RCB bowlers continued to trouble the LSG batsmen, and they soon found themselves at 23/3 after losing Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya to Wayne Parnell.

Marcus Stoinis, who could have been dismissed in the Powerplay but was dropped by Siraj, finally found his footing, amassing 33 runs off the next two overs. He went on to score a quickfire 65 off 30 balls before getting dismissed by Karn Sharma. Nicholas Pooran and Ayush Badoni continued the momentum provided by Stoinis, hitting boundaries at will and taking the game to the RCB bowlers. Enhance your IPL viewing experience with the best betting odds from Nextbet.

Pooran was the star of the innings, hitting seven sixes and four fours in his innings of 62 off just 19 balls, which included the fastest fifty of the season so far. Badoni played a sensible knock, adding crucial runs with Unadkat before getting dismissed hit wicket for 21.

The match went down to the wire, with Lucknow needing five runs off the final over. Harshal Patel’s dipping slower delivery castled Mark Wood, but Bishnoi and Unadkat held their nerve to level the scores. With one needed off the last ball, Avesh Khan missed his swing, but the batters managed to sneak in a bye, securing the victory for Lucknow.

Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul won the toss and elected to bowl, making two changes to the starting eleven with Avesh Khan and Mark Wood replacing Yash Thakur and Romario Shepherd. RCB also made a few changes, bringing in Harshal Patel, David Willey, and Karn Sharma for Wanindu Hasaranga, Kyle Jamieson, and Mohammed Siraj.

Overall, it was an entertaining and thrilling match that had fans on the edge of their seats until the very last ball. Lucknow Super Giants will look to continue their winning streak in their next match, while RCB will look to bounce back from this heart-breaking loss. Follow Nextbet Sports to get all the latest updates from IPL 2023.

Brief Scores:

RCB 212/2 in 20 Overs (Du Plessis 79*, Kohli 61; Mishra 1/18)

LSG 213/9 in 20 Overs (Stoinis 65, Pooran 62; Siraj 3/22)

Lucknow Super Giants won by 1 wicket.