Pooran and Stoinis lead Lucknow Super Giants to memorable win over RCB
With the help of Nicholas Pooran’s 19-ball 62 and Marcus Stoinis’ aggressive 65, Lucknow Super Giants defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by one wicket in the last ball of the IPL. Batting first, Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 212 runs for two wickets on the basis of aggressive half-centuries from captain Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell. In response, Puran and Stoinis laid the foundation for a memorable victory for Lucknow. Pooran scored the fastest half-century of this season in just 15 balls.
Earlier, du Plessis remained unbeaten on 79 off 46 balls for RCB while Kohli scored 61 off 44 balls. Both shared a 96-run partnership for the first wicket after being sent to bat first. Lucknow had a very bad start and Mohammad Siraj dismissed Kyle Myers on the third ball of the first over. Deepak Hooda was caught by Wayne Parnell behind the wicket in the hands of Dinesh Karthik in the fourth over. Parnell dismissed Krunal Pandya a ball later in the same fashion. Lucknow’s score was 23 for three in four overs.
After this, Stoinis started opening his hands and hit Harshal Patel and Karn Sharma for fours and sixes. He hit Shahbaz Ahmed for two sixes to take Lucknow to 91 for three after ten overs. Stoinis was caught by Sharma at deep point at the hands of Ahmed. Lucknow captain KL Rahul’s poor form continued and he scored 18 runs in 20 balls and was caught by Kohli off Siraj. On the other hand, Puran hit four fours and seven sixes in his innings. He single-handedly turned the tide of the match.
IEarlier, after a slow start for RCB, Kohli picked up the pace by hitting Avesh Khan for a six and a four in the second over. In the next over of Avesh, Kohli hit three fours. In the next over, he hit Krunal Pandya for a six. Kohli hit Mark Wood over the head for a four and then hit a six over deep midwicket. He completed his half-century in the ninth over by taking a single off Ravi Bishnoi. RCB skipper Faf du Plessis, playing the role of Kohli’s assistant, admonished the loose balls. Kohli returned in the 12th over by catching Marcus Stoinis at square leg off Amit Mishra.
Duplessy took time to settle down but as soon as Glenn Maxwell came, he showed his attitude by hitting Mishra for a four and a six. He played an inning of 59 runs in 29 balls. Duplessi hit Bishnoi for three sixes in the 15th over. He completed his half-century by hitting Wood for a six. He took 23 runs in the 18th over by hitting fours and sixes off Jaydev Unadkat. Maxwell hit Avesh for two consecutive sixes to complete his half-century in just 24 balls. The century partnership of both was completed in just 44 balls. Maxwell was dismissed by Wood in the 19th over.
