LSG vs RCB

12:53 AM local time and IST: What a game! Worth the wait! So, that will do it for this match from Lucknow. We will be back in the evening for the match between Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, from 7:30 PM local time. For now, this is Pradeep, Datrim and Bidipto taking your leave. Keep following Sportskeeda! 

Mitchell Marsh (Player of the Match, 111 runs off 56 balls): "Nice to get on the right side of it, and get the win. There is still something to play for. This looked a bit better than many of the wickets we've played on. So, just wanted to cash in on the power play. We haven't quite got the kind of impact in the power play like we should have, so, wanted to get that right. We fell a few runs short in Mumbai. But, most importantly, even against a side as good as RCB, we managed to get a win!"

Rishabh Pant [Lucknow Super Giants captain]: "It was a good game for us for sure! For the whole team, it means a lot. We've been trying a lot of things, and finally, it's a good feeling. It's a close to perfect game for us. It was a tough call to bowl a spinner in the last over, but Digvesh Singh Rathi was the right call. He was a good match-up to Romario Shepherd. Mitchell Marsh was the most consistent performer up until this game, today, he took it to another level! The bowlers have been brilliant for us, all of them, good to see them defend a score!" 

Prince Yadav [Lucknow Super Giants]: "(On recovering after the early misfield) The boundary off the misfield was disappointing, but once the ball had gone, there was nothing I could do about it. I didn’t want to lose focus because of one mistake, so I just concentrated on executing the next delivery well.(On the dismissal of Virat Kohli) That wicket was completely according to plan. In fact, after the last match, I had spoken to Virat bhai himself, and he told me that as long as the ball is moving from a good length, there’s no need to change it. I trusted that advice, stuck to my length and line, and thankfully got the reward.(On his season so far) Personally, the season has been good for me, but from the team’s perspective, it has been tough, especially with the run of losses. Still, the effort from everyone has been consistent, and we’ll continue to fight hard in the remaining matches.(On the importance of the win) This victory feels very special because it has been a challenging season for us. The best part was seeing the entire team contribute and put in a complete effort, and that’s something everyone is really happy about."

Rajat Patidar [Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain]: "(On the narrow defeat) It’s disappointing to end up on the losing side because we felt we were well in the chase for most of the game. The boys showed great intent and stretched the contest deep, but in the end, we probably fell just one or two big moments short.(On the pitch conditions) It was a very good batting surface. The black-soil wicket came nicely onto the bat, and once set, players could play their shots freely. Right now, it’s difficult to analyse exactly where things slipped away, but it felt like we were only a couple of shots away from getting over the line.(On the playoff race and team mindset) The tournament is incredibly tight, but we’re staying focused on one game at a time. There are still a few matches left, and the approach remains the same—stay calm, stay confident, and keep pushing forward.(On Mitchell Marsh’s innings) Mitchell Marsh was outstanding. The way he batted in the powerplay immediately put us under pressure, and after that phase, it became difficult to find the right match-ups against him. It was a tremendous innings.(On the batting unit’s confidence) The batting group showed excellent intent throughout the chase, and everyone is in a good headspace. If there’s one area we could have been sharper, it was probably during the powerplay, where we needed to be a little more precise."

12:26 AM local time and IST: Lucknow Super Giants win by 9 runs! 

Mitchell Marsh 111 (56) | Prince Yadav - 3/33 (4)
Rajat Patidar 61 (31) | Krunal Pandya - 1/31 (4)

Lucknow Super Giants move to 6 points, and still breathe! Royal Challengers Bengaluru squander their opportunity of going to the top of the table. 

It was always going to be tough for the batting side, chasing more than 210 runs in 19 overs, but the kind of fight shown by batters right through the line-up, should please Rajat Patidar! 

Devdutt Padikkal and the skipper himself, put together a nice, rear-guard 53-ball 95-run stand for the 3rd wicket! Patidar went on to score an impressive half-century. 

After that, even with a couple of blips, the last two partnerships, for the 7th and 8th wickets, put up a great show! Tim David, Krunal Pandya and Romario Shepherd took it right till the end and gave LSG a massive scare! 

On the contrary, all the bowlers did their bit. Prince Yadav was the pick of the bowlers once again, with wickets and a rather economical spell. But that delivery to get rid of Virat Kohli, will be etched in memory for long, long time! 

Mayank Yadav bowled with a lot of heat, and even though he was expensive towards the latter stages of his spell, there were some deliveries, showing just how valuable he is to any side! 

Shami, like always, bowled the most dot deliveries, and was unplayable at times in the power play! But the best part about the innings was the keenness to bowl the final over of the match, to defend 20 runs! 

Digvesh Singh Rathi and Shahbaz Ahamad, both proving to be expensive and both being spinners, were quarreling with each other about defending the score! In a way, that was heartening to see! 

In the end, Digvesh got the nod and managed to defend it! 12 points for RCB, they stay on third, but, this game will go down as one of the tournament's bests! 

18.6 Digvesh Singh Rathi to Romario Shepherd, THAT'S IT! LSG break the six match losing streak and they hang in this competition by a thread here! Comes up with the yorker, up in the blockhole. Shepherd digs it out to long-off for a single. RCB bump into back to back losses with this result.

18.5 Digvesh Singh Rathi to Romario Shepherd, OH! Doesn't get hold of it, Shepherd has a big swing at it. Length delivery on the middle and leg, Shepherd looks to heave it out of the ground, but mistimes it to deep square-leg for just a couple.

18.4 Digvesh Singh Rathi to Romario Shepherd, FOUR! Good length, angling into the batter. Shepherd went back to swipe, off the inside half of the bat and races away to fine-leg boundary.