Mohammed Siraj gave Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) a perfect start after explosive 50s by Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and skipper Faf du Plessis powered them to 212/4 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2023 clash at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday. Wayne Parnell then removed Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya in the same over to push Lucknow further behind in the contest. Marcus Stoinis (65 off 30) and KL Rahul (18 off 20) helped LSG recover from the early blows as the pair added 76-run for the third wicket. However, both the set batters were dismissed in quick succession, passing the baton to Nicholas Pooran, who blasted a 19-ball 62 to put the contest in LSG’s favour. Ayush Badoni and Jaydev Unadkat are batting in the middle. Earlier, Kohli and Du Plessis gave RCB a solid platform as the pair added 96 for the opening wicket. Amit Mishra broke the partnership by getting rid of Kohli for 61(44) in the 12th over. Maxwell then joined his skipper and added 115-run in just 50 balls for the second wicket. Maxwell was cleaned up by Mark Wood for 59(29) in the final over, while Du Plessis returned unbeaten on 79(46).
