The past 3 evenings have just been a roller coaster ride for cricket fans all over the World and for those who ardently follow the TATA IPL 2024. Pooran’s second fastest Fifties, Sharp twists and turns, last ball thrillers, five sixes off last 5 balls, hat tricks and a plethora of amusement. Well, that’s how the evening went when the Super Giants of Lucknow chased down a giant score of 213 on the Chinnaswamy; though it wasn’t as easy and as ordinary as it sounds to be, as Pooran and Stoinis made something happen, which has never been a part of the history at Chinnaswamy.Â
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The three BIG Guns of RCB, Kohli Faf and Maxi power RCB to 212 runs
LSG captain KL Rahul won the toss and decided to bowl, citing the Chinnaswamy pitch’s poor condition as well as a history of pursuing teams winning as justifications. In the powerplay, Kohli immediately attacked the inexperienced attack with Avesh Khan and Jaydev Unadkat as his opening bowlers, prompting Rahul to insert Wood in the sixth over.
The powerplay ended with a score of 56-0 after Kohli pounded him for a boundary over his head and a six over cow corner. During the following three overs, the spinners choked the run flow before Kohli once more broke the chains with a 13-run over off Krunal Pandya.
Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis took on the leg-spinners first after Amit Mishra secured the prized wicket of Virat Kohli.
The latter pounded Bishnoi for 20 runs off an over, including the longest six of the 2024 IPL (115 meters). A full-scale attack on the LSG bowling resulted from this, with even pace spearhead Mark Wood taking a couple of powerful sixes. When Maxwell eventually tumbled off the penultimate ball, the damage had already been done thanks to the enormous 213 that RCB had set for LSG.
Stoinis and Rahul get LSG back into the Match, and Pooran hits the second-fastest 50 in IPL history
RCB appeared to be bowling on a completely different pitch. As a result, the power play didn’t go quite as LSG had envisioned it, not to mention KL Rahul, who observed the mayhem from the opposite end while still having difficulty speaking fluently.
Although the format doesn’t allow for rebuilding, KL Rahul and Marcus Stoinis continued losing the wicket, and the latter eventually faced Harshal Patel, who was promptly crushed for 17 runs in his first over. After the initial blows, Stoinis spearheaded LSG’s counterattack and kept tearing apart the bowling as KL Rahul battled. The goal was to keep wickets in hand. In just 25 balls, the Australian newcomer reached his fifty with a huge six off Shahbaz Ahmed, and he finished the 10th over with another six.
But the twists and turns of the match weren’t over yet. As soon as LSG appeared to have gripped the match, Both Stoinis and Rahul lost their wickets in succession trying to maintain the rising required run rate. What was bound to happen after this, was not expected by any.
Nicholas Pooran turned that glimmer of hope into a beaming ray of sunshine, with a flurry of sixes, as LSG scored 80 runs between overs 11 and 15. And just when one thought it would be a walk in the park, drama ensued. Pooran was dismissed by a just-below-waist-high ball by Siraj, bringing in Unadkat and the rest of the tail, once again turning the match on its head. Pooran also happens to equal the record for joint second-fastest Fifty in an IPL match with Pat Cummins and Sunil Narine who have done it in 15 balls each.
The Dramatic Death Overs make the match even more interesting
What do you expect out of a match where 24 runs are required in the final 3 overs, with two deadly batsmen, Ayush and Pooran set at the crease and hitting every alternate ball out of the park? Would you imagine hitting a wicket out when the ball has already crossed a boundary, or a mankading run out that wasn’t well executed?
This is not an exaggeration. With one of the best scoop shots ever against Wayne Parnell, Ayush Badoni took a yorker on the full and deposited it over fine leg for six. However, on the follow-through, he managed to brush his stumps with the toe of the bat, leading to a hit wicket dismissal.
Harshal Patel attempted a “run out at the non-end” striker off the final ball of the chase with one run to win but utterly missed the stumps.
He was eventually obliged to bowl the ball, which Avesh Khan missed, but LSG managed to slip a bye to pull off a shocking heist at the Chinnaswamy.
With LSG’s victory, they have managed to book themselves the top position on the Table, but at the same time, RCB retains their position with two consecutive losses by close margins.
