Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) pacer Josh Hazlewood changed the scenario as it helped his side pick up the 18-run win against Lucknow Super Giants(LSG) in the 31st match of Indian Premier League(IPL) 2022 on Tuesday, April 19 at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.
Josh Hazlewood returned with 4/25 to restrict LSG
Lucknow Super Giants had won the toss and elected to bowl first. It was the pacer Dushmantha Chameera, who provided Lucknow Super Giants with a perfect start. He struck twice in the opening over, removing the Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Anuj Rawat and the RCB talisman Virat Kohli in consecutive balls.
Kohli was dismissed for a duck as his tough times continues. It also marked his first dismissal on duck in six long years. Glenn Maxwell also departed soon after his contribution of 23 runs off 11 balls.
It was the skipper Faf du Plessis, who emerged with a captain’s knock of 96 before he was scalped by Jason Holder. He missed out on the ton by a mere four runs. At one stage, RCB were reeling at 62/4 before Du Plessis and Shahbaz Ahmed (26) added 70 runs for the fifth wicket.
Faf and Ahmed had stitched a crucial 50-plus stand for the fifth wicket to rebuild RCB’s innings and reach a respectable total of 181 runs at the expense of six wickets. Jason Holder and Dushmantha Chameera returned with a couple of wickets each, while Krunal Pandya bagged one wicket.
Chasing the target, Lucknow Super Giants stumbled at the onset. The side lost Quinton de Kock and Manish Pandey very cheaply early on in the innings. KL Rahul was also caught-behind on 30 runs off 24 balls. It was Krunal Pandya, who chipped in with a good 28-ball 42 before getting out to Glenn Maxwell.
RCB bowlers did an incredible job. Josh Hazlewood was the key player for RCB to spoil the party for Lucknow. Josh Hazlewood returned with the incredible figures of 4/25 while Harshal Patel bagged two wickets, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj picked up a wicket each to restrict the opponents to 163/8 to pick up the victory.
