NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) failed to seize the opportunity to move to the summit of the points table after falling to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by nine runs on Thursday night. The match swung decisively during RCB’s chase of 213 when Virat Kohli was dismissed for a duck off just two balls. While Rajat Patidar and Tim David tried to keep RCB in the contest, the chase ultimately fell short. Despite the loss, RCB remain positioned within the top four, but they will need sharper showings in their remaining four fixtures.
After the game, Kohli addressed the squad in the dressing room and urged the players to maintain belief while focusing on enjoying the rest of the season. In a message shared by RCB on X, he explained that the team’s earlier success came from playing with freedom, stressing that they should not allow anxiety to affect their performances.
“Why did we get those six wins? Because we were enjoying, and we were only worried about our standards, and we’re not even looking at the opposition,” Kohli said.
He added: “And I want to see absolute enjoyment and excitement to get back in the park, regardless of what the jersey colour on the other side is.”
On the bowling front, LSG controlled the innings with Prince Yadav leading the way. Yadav finished with figures of 3/33, restricting RCB to 203/6 in reply to the total of 213.
Mohammed Shami provided an early breakthrough in the opening over. Soon after, Prince struck again by dismissing Kohli with a delivery that left RCB reeling at 9/2.
RCB then steadied the chase through a 95-run stand between Devdutt Padikkal and captain Patidar. Padikkal contributed 34, while Patidar struck 61, with the captain’s aggressive approach briefly tilting momentum back towards RCB.
As the innings progressed, late cameos from Tim David, along with Krunal Pandya—who remained unbeaten on 28—and Romario Shepherd—also not out on 23—helped keep RCB within striking distance.
However, in the final over, Digvesh Rathi held his nerve and defended 20 runs, enabling LSG to clinch the match.
