Match 15: LSG batters and Mayank Yadav help to win against RCB

With his second consecutive half-century, Quinton de Kock set the stage for LSG triumph. As their captain, KL Rahul made a comeback to the game, although he was limited to 20 off 14 balls.

On a two-paced pitch, Nicholas Pooran, who had led LSG against Punjab Kings in their previous match, found a higher gear and hammered an unbeaten 40 off 21 balls to help his team reach beyond 180.

At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Mayank Yadav found fire again, taking out Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green on his way to figures of 4-0-14-3. The Lucknow Super Giants successfully defended 181, handing Royal Challengers Bengaluru their second straight loss.

Reece Topley and Yash Dayal’s slower balls from the back of the hand were stuck in the surface, but Mayank isn’t sluggish. To stop RCB’s pursuit, he consistently exceeded 150 kph and even increased it to a season-high 156.7 kph.

In the next over, Maxwell might have dismissed De Kock for 32, but he was dropped. Before Topley eventually had him hole out to long-off for 81 off 56 balls, he had already added 49 to his total.

Maxwell came up with 4-0-23-2, including 12 dots, on a night when Mayank Dagar, the RCB’s main spinner, bowled just two overs for 23 runs. During the powerplay, he stood up to bowl two overs and got Rahul caught at extra-cover with a hard-length delivery.

After the powerplay, he came back to eject Marcus Stoinis (24 in 15), another right-hander, by putting the ball out of reach of his reach.

Pooran started slowly; at one point, he was on eight balls out of ten. The crowd at the Chinnaswamy stadium began to roar after he struck five sixes in the final two overs.

The best of the bunch was the six that was shanked off a slower ball thrown by Topley that traveled at 110.4 kph and struck the stadium roof.

When playing against top power hitters like Pooran, there is very little room for error. Upon Topley’s slight mishandling of his broader yorkers, Pooran punished him with a pair of sixes to restore LSG’s lead.

The LSG team management was so confident in him that they supported M Sidhharth to bowl first-ball against both Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli that evening.

Following his darting inswingers at over 110 kph, Siddharth decelerated and pulled ahead of Kohli. Du Plessis was run out in the subsequent over, putting RCB at 42 for 2 in the sixth over.

Maxwell avoided Mayank’s first bouncer, but the batsman was forced to make a hasty catch at mid-on to go for a duck when he dug one in and got it to creep towards Maxwell’s ribs at 151 kph.

Subsequently, Mayank struck the top of Green’s off stump with yet another blistering ball in his subsequent over. Although the speed gun indicated 146.2 kph, Green’s delayed answer implied that the actual speed may have been far higher.

Rajat Patidar was then dismissed for 29 off 21 balls by him. Mahipal Lomror hit 33 off 13 balls at that time, but RCB required 79 off 34 balls, and the chase was always out of reach.

For the previous two seasons, Mayank did not play in a single game at LSG, mostly due to injury. By winning two Player-of-the-Match accolades in his first two matches, he has now become the first player in IPL history to do so.