The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) registered their fifth victory in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 after defeating the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 18 runs on Tuesday at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

A captain’s knock at the top from Faf du Plessis (96) and an exceptional four-wicket haul from Josh Hazlewood led RCB to an 18-run victory.

Chasing 182 to win, LSG lost Quinton de Kock’s wicket early in the chase after the left-handed opener was caught at first slip off Hazlewood’s bowling. 

LSG skipper KL Rahul started his innings on a confident note with 2 fours and a six. However, Hazlewood scalped his second wicket to dismiss Manish Pandey. 

Krunal Pandya struck two fours in the 6^th over and LSG were 44-2 at the end of the powerplay. 

14 runs were conceded in the 8^th over, bowled by Harshal Patel but the pacer managed to dismiss the LSG skipper, who was caught behind for 30. 

Krunal Pandya was looking in good touch and the left-handed batter lofted a six over extra-cover in the 10th over and LSG were 83-3 at the half-way stage. 

The hundred was up for LSG in the 12^th over before RCB claimed two quick wickets. 

While Deepak Hooda was caught by a sharp running catch in the outfield by Prabhudessai, Krunal’s innings came to an end after the left-hander holed out to the deep. 

LSG required 65 from the final five overs, with Marcus Stoinis and Ayush Badoni at the crease. 

Hazlewood claimed his third wicket of the innings as Badoni was caught behind in the 17^th over. 

9 runs came from the 18^th over and the equation was down to 34 off the final two overs. Hazlewood castled Stoinis to pick his 4^th wicket of the innings as RCB won the game by 18 runs in the end.   

Earlier, RCB, who were put in to bat first, remained unchanged from their previous game. 

Dushmantha Chameera provided a terrific start with the ball after claiming the wickets of Anuj Rawat and Virat Kohli in the first over. 

Glenn Maxwell joined skipper Faf du Plessis  in the middle and counter-attacked Chameera by smacking two fours and a six as 19 runs came off the third over. 

Krunal Pandya dismissed Maxwell in the 6^th over after Jason Holder successfully grabbed a diving catch and RCB were 47-3 at the end of the powerplay. 

The next over produced 15 runs after Suyash Prabhudessai lofted a six against Bishnoi. However, the right-handed batter was caught off Holder’s bowling as RCB lost their 4^th wicket. 

RCB were 87-4 at the half-way stage before Shahbaz Ahmed and du Plessis stitched a fifty partnership.

RCB skipper reached his half-century after clearing Bishnoi for a six in the 14^th over. 13 runs came from the 15^th over after du Plessis smacked a four and a six each.

The 70-run partnership came to an end after Shahbaz Ahmed was run-out for 26. Skipper du Plessis moved into the 90s and RCB were 164-5 with two overs to go. 

Dinesh Karthik hammered a six in the penultimate over against Avesh Khan. Jason Holder dismissed the RCB skipper for 96 in the last over but RCB posted 181/6 in the first innings. 

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 181/6 (Faf du Plessis 96; Shahbaz Ahmed 26; Jason Holder 2-25) beat Lucknow Super Giants 163/8 (Krunal Pandya 42, KL Rahul 30; Josh Hazlewood 4-25) by 18 runs.