IPL 2026 | RCB rout LSG to go top of table

Bengaluru: Just like how it hogged all the spotlight in most of their games this season, the Lucknow Super Giants’ batting inefficiencies were exposed again as Rishabh Pant’s men were brought to their knees at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here by Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Wednesday night.

RCB quicks exploited the early favourable conditions to keep LSG hushed as Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/27), Rasikh Dar (4/24) and Josh Hazlewood (1/20) dismantled the visiting batters with their bag of tricks. Once LSG were bundled out cheaply for a below-par 146 all out in 20 overs, any thoughts of a comeback were straight away banished by the turbocharged RCB in the first six overs.  

Impact Player Virat Kohli’s visual batting treat joined hands with Rajat Patidar’s (27 off 13) new-found six-hitting temptation and the finishing touches were laid by Jitesh Sharma (23 off 9) as RCB registered a five-wicket win with 4.5 overs to spare. 

With the third consecutive victory at home and fourth of the season, RCB now jump to the top of the table with eight points from five games and a healthy net run-rate of 1.503.

While the Super Giants scored at just 5.83 runs per over in their first six, the Challengers went about business at 10 an over, underlining the average batting display of the visitors. 

Kohli, who only batted for a brief period on the eve of the game with a strap on his ankle, batted for 48 minutes while making a velvet-smooth 49. 

Phil Salt (7) and Devdutt Padikkal (10) endured rare batting failures.  Once Kohli walked back, Patidar and Jitesh bludgeoned their way to a quick-fire 35 off 13 balls partnership in just nine minutes. 

It was a massive task for a listless LSG to defend such a total. While they did fight back in pockets by picking up the wickets of Patidar and Jitesh, they could only delay the inevitable.

Earlier, the Chinnaswamy surface once again showed it has something in it for the quicks in its early hours of play. On Wednesday, it offered a spongy bounce around the good length area.

Exploiting the conditions, Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood kept deliveries wide and full outside the off-stump and bowled under the feet, not handing any freebies while Rasikh bowled slower bouncers and yorkers. 

Skipper Rishabh Pant (1) endured a bizarre 12-minute stay where he tried to smash Hazlewood into the stands in his first ball and completely missed it. He attempted another swing across but was hit on his left elbow.

Once the physio applied the magic spray, Pant walked back with his head bowed and with a grimace. He did return to bat later on in the innings, but failed to do any harm. 

Nicholas Pooran (1) endured another batting failure. The 30-year-old now has not crossed 19 in his last eight innings and his performances cast a shadow over his inclusion in the XI, with the talented Matthew Breetzke on the bench. 

The Australian T20 skipper Mitchell Marsh (40) started off slow but just when he found his range, he was castled by the Krunal Pandya (2/38). 

On the other hand, Ayush Badoni (38) discovered some confidence while wickets tumbled at the other end and consequently the shots flowed all over the park. 

The 21-year-old Mukul Choudhary (39), known for his range-hitting, played a more cautious role and added a 35-run partnership with Badoni to take LSG to 112/4 in 15 overs. 

Bhuvneshwar and Rasikh picked up two wickets each in the 19th and 20th overs to cap off a brilliant bowling display. 

RCB pace troika choked LSG batting as Rasikh Dar (left) took a four-for while Josh Hazelwood was adjudged Player of the Match for a 1/20. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (below) was as impressive with figures of 3/27. DH Photos/ Prashanth HG

RCB pace troika choked LSG batting as Rasikh Dar (left) took a four-for while Josh Hazelwood was adjudged Player of the Match for a 1/20. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (below) was as impressive with figures of 3/27. DH Photos/ Prashanth HG

SCOREBOARD LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS: Mitchell Marsh b Krunal 40 (32b 3x4 2x6) Aiden Markram c Padikkal b Rasikh 12 (8b 1x6) Rishabh Pant c Salt b Bhuvneshwar 1 (6b) Nicholas Pooran b Hazlewood 1 (7b) Ayush Badoni c Jitesh b Rasikh 38 (24b 4x4 1x6) Abdul Samad c Patidar b Krunal 0 (2b) Mukul Choudhary b Rasikh 39 (28b 3x4 2x6) George Linde c David b Bhuvneshwar 7 (7b 1x4) Mohammed Shami b Bhuvneshwar 0 (1b) Avesh Khan b Rasikh 1(2b) Digvesh Rathi (not out) 0 (3b). Extras (W-4 LB-2 B-1) 7. TOTAL (all out 20 overs) 146. Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Markram) 2-35 (Pooran) 3-71 (Marsh) 4-83 (Samad) 5-118 (Badoni) 6-124 (Pant) 7-137 (Linde) 8-137 (Shami) 9-145 (Mukul). Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-27-3 Josh Hazlewood 4-0-20-1 Rasikh Dar 4-0-24-4 Krunal Pandya 4-0-38-2 Suyash Sharma 4-0-34-0. ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Phil Salt b Prince 7 (8b 1x4) Virat Kohli c Pooran b Avesh 49 (34b 6x4 1x6) Devdutt Padikkal c Himmat b Avesh 10 (11b 1x4) Rajat Patidar c Rathi b Prince 27 (13b 1x4 3x6) Jitesh Sharma c Choudhary b Prince 23 (9b 2x4 2x6) Tim David (not out) 14 (8b 1x4 1x6) Romario Shepherd (not out) 14 (8b 1x4 1x6). Extras (LB-4 W-1) 5. TOTAL (for 5 wkts 15.1 overs) 149.  Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Salt) 2-66 (Padikkal) 3-86 (Kohli) 4-121 (Patidar) 5-122 (Jitesh). Bowling: Mohammed Shami 3-0-30-0 Prince Yadav 3-0-32-3 Digvesh Rathi 4-0-51-0 Avesh Khan 4-0-23-2 George Linde 1.1-0-9-0. Result: RCB won by 5 wickets.  PoM: Josh Hazlewood. Next RCB match: vs Delhi Capitals (April 18 Bengaluru).