BENGALURU: The opening weeks of the IPL have often been dominated by fresh faces and break-out performers, but the midweek encounter at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru carried a different flavour. It played out like a lesson in experience, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s senior campaigners stepping forward to trouble Lucknow Super Giants and show exactly how to execute under pressure.
Two seasoned operators set the tone from the start. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, aged 36, produced a swing-bowling masterclass for a spell that returned figures of 3/27. He made the ball move early, forcing batters to feel the impact of the conditions, before finishing strongly at the death with accurate yorkers. At the other end, 35-year-old Josh Hazlewood (1/20) kept things tight and awkward, attacking probing areas where the batters had to think twice before committing. Rasikh Dar then added his own burst of control, ending with 4/24 as RCB’s pacers used the short ball to unsettle the visitors on a surface that offered assistance. In the end, Lucknow were bowled out for 146.
Chasing a total that was below par, Royal Challengers did flirt with a wobble, but they stayed composed to secure the win by five wickets in 15.1 overs. It also extended their home advantage, as they continued their unbeaten run at the venue in this season.
Phil Salt departed early, but Virat Kohli arrived as an Impact Player for Suyash Sharma and quickly found his rhythm. He struck consecutive boundaries off Mohammed Shami, displaying the sharp timing and wristy execution that has become a hallmark of his batting. Kohli raced to 34 off his first 14 balls, ensuring the chase remained under control. Even so, Lucknow managed to slow the momentum with disciplined bowling, and wickets from the other end tightened the contest.
Kohli’s innings ended just short of the milestone, as he was dismissed for 49 off 34 balls (6 fours, 1 six). Nicholas Pooran took the catch at long-on. Still, the rest of the batting group did the job efficiently, leaving Royal Challengers with room to finish comfortably.
Earlier, Lucknow’s problems at the crease looked stubborn, with little evidence of improvement from the start of their campaign. Before the match, Tom Moody, the franchise’s global cricket director, had expected the venue’s reputation for runs to provide a lift. Instead, RCB’s bowling plan made the difference. Using short-pitched deliveries at the right moments, they disrupted the batters’ balance and timing. Hazlewood set the tone at the top with control, Bhuvneshwar kept pulling the innings back with incisive spells, and Rasikh’s variations ensured the batters were rarely settled.
Lucknow never truly recovered after an early jolt. Aiden Markram fell in the fourth over, miscuing a full toss from Rasikh to Devdutt Padikkal at covers. From that point, the innings became a slow procession. The batters struggled to read the pace coming off the surface and repeatedly committed too early. RCB then pressed harder during the Powerplay, producing 15 dot balls to build a platform for the collapse.
Pooran’s lean run continued as he fell to Hazlewood. Attempting a pull, he dragged a short ball onto his stumps. Mitchell Marsh made a brief stand, scoring 40 off 32 balls (3 fours, 2 sixes), while Ayush Badoni contributed 38, and together they managed to stitch a 36-run partnership that briefly steadied the innings. However, Krunal Pandya struck with a key breakthrough, deceiving Marsh with a quicker delivery that crashed into the stumps. In his next over, Krunal removed Abdul Samad to further dent Lucknow’s chances.
Mukul Choudhary added 39 late on to give the innings a measure of respectability, but it never gathered real momentum. The situation turned even more concerning for Lucknow when Rishabh Pant’s outing was disrupted by an injury scare. He was first beaten outside off by Hazlewood, then struck on the right abdomen by a rising short ball. Trying to respond with aggression, Pant inside-edged onto his left elbow, visibly uncomfortable afterwards. After receiving treatment, he walked off—but returned in the 16th over with Lucknow in trouble at 118/5. Still not fully at ease, the LSG captain struggled to time the ball and was dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar after facing only three deliveries.
