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Skipper Rishabh Pant and Mitchell Marsh starred with explosive half-centuries before Lucknow Super Giants’ bowlers held their nerves to help the side survive a late Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) charge to register a thrilling nine-run victory in a rain-curtailed 19-overs-a-side IPL clash on Thursday at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. 

Asked to bat first, LSG piled up a daunting 209/3, riding on a blazing century from Marsh and some fine knocks by Pant and Nicholas Pooran, before restricting RCB to 203/6 despite a valiant counterattack from Rajat Patidar, Tim David, and Romario Shepherd.

The win brought smiles back to the LSG camp after a difficult run, with their bowlers holding nerve in the death overs to defend the revised DLS target of 213.

RCB’s chase suffered an early jolt when Mohammed Shami struck in the opening over to dismiss Jacob Bethell, while Prince Yadav produced a peach to clean up Virat Kohli for a two-ball duck as the visitors slipped to 9/2.

Devdutt Padikkal and skipper Rajat Patidar steadied the innings with a brisk partnership. Padikkal mixed elegance with aggression in his 34 off 25 balls, while Patidar launched a calculated assault, especially against spin, to keep RCB in the hunt.

Patidar took on Digvesh Singh Rathi and Mayank Yadav with a flurry of boundaries and towering sixes, bringing up a 29-ball fifty in style. The duo added momentum through the middle overs as RCB crossed the 100-run mark in the 10th over. However, LSG hit back strongly through Prince Yadav and Shahbaz Ahmed. Prince removed Padikkal with a return catch before dismissing Jitesh Sharma cheaply in the same over. Shahbaz then delivered the key breakthrough by having Patidar caught at long-off for a scintillating 61 off 31 balls, an innings studded with three fours and six sixes.

With the equation mounting, Tim David launched a brutal counterattack. The Australian hammered Mayank Yadav for consecutive sixes, then followed up with another towering hit off Shahbaz to drag RCB back into contention. His 40 off just 17 balls briefly tilted the momentum before Shahbaz trapped him with a sharp catch at backward point.

Romario Shepherd and Krunal Pandya kept RCB alive till the final over, smashing boundaries and sixes against Shami and Prince Yadav. But needing 28 off the last over, Digvesh Singh Rathi held his nerve despite conceding a boundary and a wide, as LSG closed out a tense nine-run victory.

Earlier, LSG produced one of their best batting displays of the season after being put in to bat. Mitchell Marsh gave them early impetus with an aggressive knock, while Pant rediscovered his touch with a commanding innings at the top.

The duo dominated the Power-play and maintained the scoring rate through the middle overs, taking apart both pace and spin with fearless strokeplay. Marsh’s clean hitting laid the platform before Pant accelerated brilliantly, finding boundaries at will and rotating strike effectively.

Nicholas Pooran then provided the finishing flourish with a quick cameo, ensuring LSG crossed the 200-run mark in the shortened contest. RCB’s bowlers struggled for control on a batting-friendly surface, with only sporadic breakthroughs interrupting LSG’s relentless charge.

Though Patidar and David threatened to pull off a remarkable chase, LSG’s bowlers produced timely breakthroughs, and Digvesh Rathi defended 20 in the final over to secure an important victory for the home team.

Brief scores: 

Lucknow Super Giants 209/3 in 19 overs (Mitchell Marsh 111, Nicholas Pooran 38, Rishabh Pant 32; Krunal Pandya 1-31) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 203/6 in 19 overs (Rajat Patidar 61, Tim David 40; Prince Yadav 3-33, Shahbaz Ahmed 2-33) by 9 runs (DLS).