Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will have the top spot in sight when they host Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Ekana stadium in Lucknow on Monday in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
LSG are currently second in the table with 10 points from eight games and a win on Monday could see them go level with first-placed Gujarat Titans. A better NRR (net run rate) will see LSG sneak ahead of GT too if they win.
RCB, on the other hand, have eight points from as many games and are desperate for a win that would see them stay in touch in the race for top four.
These two teams have met already once this season in Bengaluru, where an absolute thriller ensued. RCB, batting first, posted 212/2 in their 20 overs. But LSG chased that score down, with Avesh Khan hitting the winning run on the final ball of the game in what was an absolute nailbiter.
Tempers had flared in that game, with emotions often getting the better of Virat Kohli. It remains to be seen how charged up he will be to dish out some revenge on Monday.
As the IPL 2023 action keeps rumbling, The Sporting News brings you all the live score updates, analysis, team news and highlights from the match.
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LSG vs RCB: Match Highlights
Full match highlights from this match are available on the official IPL website, but some of the best bits of the action are collated here.
Making things happen with the ball ft. @RCBTweets 😃
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2023
Two fine catches from @imVkohli 👌🏻👌🏻#TATAIPL | #LSGvRCB pic.twitter.com/eHhpxaMXYV
Remarkable effort! 🙌🏻
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2023
K Gowtham dives to his front and grabs a fine catch near the ropes 👌🏻👌🏻#TATAIPL | #LSGvRCB pic.twitter.com/Ju6yzYWDsT
🚨 Toss Update 🚨@RCBTweets win the toss and elect to bat first against @LucknowIPL.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2023
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/jbDXvbwuzm #TATAIPL | #LSGvRCB pic.twitter.com/6t6Bs18AH8
LSG vs RCB: Live Updates
Check back here for all the build-up and action from the match itself.
23:55- Player of the Match: Faf du Plessis for his knock of 44(40) which helped his team post the winning total of 126 runs.
23:40- RCB win! What a fantastic defence of their low total of 126 runs by the away side. After the first innings very few would have thought that the Challengers would come out victors. Their bowlers somehow outshone the display by their LSG equivalents in the first innings and dismantled LSG's batting order one by one. RCB now have the same points at LSG who will be disappointed to lose at home, while also potentially losing skipper Rahul.
22:08- 74/7 after 14 overs. LSG will really need a miracle here, most probably in the form of Rahul who seems to have dusted off his early injury and can be seen practising his batting on the sidelines. Kohli and co. will be enjoying the show currently but must not take it for granted, as they lost the last match between the two sides as well on the last ball and last wicket. It may not be as high-scoring as the matches yesterday, but every bit as exciting.
22:33- 32/4 after six overs. Oh boy have the RCB bowlers turned up! LSG may have been fairly optimistic when they saw the runs they had to chase, however, four wickets down and with an economy rate below 6.00, the team and their supporters may not feel the victory is as guaranteed as before.
21:57- Second innings begins
21:42 - 126/9 at the end of the innings. Apart from the injury to their skipper, LSG will be happy with the total they need to chase. and the excellent effort from their bowlers. In particular, Naveen was the show-stealer with his haul of 3 wickets, which disrupted any attempt by the Challengers to put up a good score. Du Plessis may regret his decision to bat first, but if the RCB bowlers show up like the LSG bowlers did, we might have another match between the two which goes down the wire!
20:53- Rain interrupts the proceedings. Hopefully, it's just a small drizzle and we can get back to action soon!
20:38- 89-3 after 14 overs. Things are going swell for LSG who have already taken the wickets of Maxwell and Kohli. They've slowed RCB further down and if they get the wicket of Du Plessis, then they may very well be chasing a lower score than they did in the last game between the two sides. Will the RCB skipper regret batting first or will he be able to pull his team back from the gallows?
19:59- 42/0 after six overs. A bit of a slow start which isn't what the fans would want but should expect after the earlier pitch report. Both teams have yet to assert their dominance, and the match is quite an open affair. One setback for LSG is losing captain Rahul who most probably will miss the next few games considering how he had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. 14 more overs to go!
19:30- Match begins! Kohli and Faf open for RCB, Krunal bowls for LSG.
19:08- Teams Announced
LSG: KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Krishnappa Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Amit Mishra, Yash Thakur
Impact subs- Ayush Badoni, Daniel Sams, Quinton de Kock, Prerak Mankad, Avesh Khan
RCB: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik(w), Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood
Impact subs- Harshal Patel, Sonu Yadav, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Michael Bracewell, Shahbaz Ahmed
19:00- RCB win the toss, and choose to bat first.
18:45- Pitch Report: The square boundaries - one side is 72 metres, the other side is 63 metres. Straight it is 78 metres. It is a black soil pitch, so the bounce is relatively low. May not be high-scoring, but expect a bigger score than 145 - with inputs from Sanjay Manjrekar and Rohan Gavaskar.
18:33- Welcome to TSN's coverage of LSG vs RCB. The players are out warming up, the weather seems clear and hopefully, there are no disruptions to the game.
Avesh Khan vs Kohli & Du Plessis
Avesh Khan will be KL Rahul's answer to Kohli & Du Plessis' supremacy up top. The pace bowler has a terrific record against Kohli and Du Plessis. In 22 balls he's bowled to Kohli, Avesh conceded just 23 runs and dismissed him twice.
Avesh has conceded just 48 off 41 balls to Du Plessis, dismissing him just once.
Thunderstorms tonight?
There is forecast for thundershowers in Lucknow today evening. However, they are expected to be brief and might not have an effect on the game. Or so we think!
Mohsin Khan slowly getting back into shape
How sorely have LSG missed Mohsin Khan this season. He was one of the standout finds for LSG last season when they made the final but has been hampered by injury this time around.
Though it is very unlikely that he will play against RCB, he did have an extended net session last night.
20 seconds of Mohsin Khan bowling in the nets. 😍 pic.twitter.com/ctmypPdCl6
— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) April 30, 2023
Kohli, Du Plessis and Maxwell in the groove
Net Session Entertainment ft. Virat, Faf and Maxi
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) May 1, 2023
Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis took turns against the spinners, and the ever so competitive Maxi led the banter, ahead of our game against LSG.#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2023 #LSGvRCB pic.twitter.com/62kxI8fTLK
Can RCB being their long journey away from home on a positive note?
Tonight's game will be the first of the six continuous away games that RCB are scheduled to play now. Faf du Plessis' side will need to ensure they take all the points they can on the road if they are to stay in the race for top four.
Will RCB's top order dependence continue?
RCB's top order dependence has been well chronicled. A lion's share of the runs scored RCB have come from the bats of Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell. The rest of the batting order have just not clicked, including veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik.
RCB have sorely missed Rajat Patidar this season and if LSG get some early wickets, they could be in trouble.
LSG vs RCB: Pitch Report
LSG have so far won all their games at the Ekana stadium in Lucknow. The pitch here is expected to be a bit on the slower side and generally chasing could get very tough here.
The team winning the toss should bat first.
LSG vs RCB tips, predictions and betting odds
You can bet on this match in India here.
| LSG win | RCB win | |
|---|---|---|
| Dafabet (India) | 2.01 | 1.80 |
LSG vs RCB: TV, telecast details
Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore will be broadcast in several languages, across the following TV channels:
- Star Sports 1
- Star Sports 1 Hindi
- Star Sports 3
- Star Sports Select 1
- Star Sports Select 1 HD
- Star Sports HD1
LSG vs RCB: Live stream, mobile, online details
Live streaming of this game will be provided free of charge, exclusively through the Jio Cinema app across a range of platforms.
Live streaming of all IPL games will be available for free on the Jio Cinema app.
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