LSG bowlers shine to restrict RCB to below-par 126/9

Lucknow, May 1 (PTI) Lucknow Super Giants dished out a fine bowling display to restrict Royal Challengers Bangalore to a below-par 126 for nine in an Indian Premier League match here on Monday.

Opting to bat, RCB never had momentum in their innings despite the opening duo of skipper Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli sharing a 62-run partnership.

The spin duo of Ravi Bishnoi (2/21) and veteran Amit Mishra (2/21) shone bright with the ball in the middle overs to keep a check on RCB’s scoring rate.

LSG suffered a big blow in the last delivery of the second over when skipper KL Rahul pulled his right thigh muscle while chasing a ball towards the extra cover boundary.

Rahul failed to stop the boundary, looked in considerable pain, and limped off the field. In his absence, Krunal Pandya led the side.

The duo of du Plessis and Kohli gave RCB another good start, stitching 62 runs in nine overs.

Both the openers failed to get going but gave a platform for the rest of the batters to take RCB to a decent score.

Kohli didn’t look at his best as he managed just three boundaries during his 30-ball 31-run knock before being stumped by Nicholas Pooran off the bowling of Bishnoi.

New man in Anuj Rawat didn’t last long as he gave a catch to Kyle Mayers in the deep off the bowling of Krishnappa Gowtham.

Dangerman Glenn Maxwell followed suit, without troubling the scorers much, LBW to Bishnoi.

After the initial partnership between du Plessis and Kohli, LSG bowlers pulled back the game brilliantly.

Suyash Prabhudesai didn’t last long, caught by Gowtham at mid-off off the bowling of veteran Amit Mishra, as RCB slumped to 90 for four in 14.3 overs.

The match came to halt in the 16th over due to a steady drizzle.

After a delay of nearly 26 minutes due to rain, the match restarted with no overs being reduced.

While du Plessis batted deep he never got the desired momentum in his knock and struggled to find boundaries and sixes, which he is generally known for and was eventually dismissed by Mishra in the 17th over, caught by Pandya as the South African tried to break the shackles.

Thereafter, Dinesh Karthik (16 off 11) tried his best to up the ante but it wasn’t enough.

Towards the end, Afghan fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq picked up two wickets in two deliveries in the 20th overs, to finish with figures of 3 for 30.