Josh Hazlewood
Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 18 runs in the IPL on Tuesday, riding on skipper Faf du Plessis’ breezy 96 and Josh Hazlewood’s brilliant bowling. After a string of low scores, du Plessis, 37, roared back to form with a 64-ball knock to help RCB post 181 for six after being sent in to bat. Pace spearhead Hazlewood (4/25) then took two wickets early on and two at the end as RCB restricted LSG to 163 for eight to record their fifth win of the season.
The buzz surrounding the two-ball sequence up to Marcus Stoinis’ wicket, in which a wide outside off wasn’t called, followed by him shuffling way too much in the following delivery and playing on, may have obscured both Hazlewood and du Plessis’ great individual efforts.
Nonetheless, RCB has moved up to second place in the points table, while LSG has dropped to fourth.
The Super Giants invited RCB to bat, and while the bowlers were able to hit at regular intervals, they were unable to answer the former South African skipper.
Dushmantha Chameer (2/31 off 3) of Sri Lanka bowled a profitable first over for LSG, taking the wickets of opener Anuj Rawat (4) and Virat Kohli (0), who continued his troubles with the bat by being out for a first-ball duck.
Maxwell (23) aimed to continue his blistering form in the IPL. In the third over, the Australian bowled Chameera for two fours and a six.
The all-rounder, on the other hand, was knocked out after a brief cameo while playing his favorite stroke, the switch hit, as LSG reclaimed control of the match.
Maxwell attempted a reverse sweep off a Krunal Pandya (1/29) delivery but failed to middle it, with a diving Jason Holder completing the catch as RCB fell to 44/3.
Suyash Prabhudessai (10) followed a couple of overs later, as du Plessis ensured RCB kept scoring at a good clip.
Along with Shahbaz Ahmed (26), du Plessis scored 70 runs for the fifth wicket, with the former playing the perfect second fiddle.
In the slog overs, the seasoned batter switched gears with Dinesh Karthik (13 not out), who is in imperious form himself, by his side. They helped RCB surpass the 180-run mark. Du Plessis was on his way to his first IPL century when he was caught by Holder with one ball remaining in the game.
