IPL 2023: RCB captain Faf du Plessis heaps praise on RCB bowlers for decimating Lucknow

Faf du Plessis was awarded Player of the Match award for his 44 runs inning against LSG.

Royal Challengers Bangalore won a low-scoring game against Lucknow Super Giants at Ekana Stadium. Bangalore beat Lucknow by 18 runs. Batting first, RCB posted only 126 runs on the board. Virat Kohli (31) and RCB captain Faf du Plessis (44) opening partnership helped RCB put 120 plus in a bowling-friendly wicket. Lucknow’s spinner bowled brilliantly to contain RCB on a low total. Lucknow needed 127 runs to chase, they lost first 4 wickets in powerplay. This put RCB on top of the game. Lucknow kept losing wicket after wicket and were bundled out on 108. Josh Hazlewood made a great comeback with 2 wickets in 3 overs conceding only 15 runs.

Krunal came in to talk in place of Rahul

Lucknow Super Giants all-rounder Krunal Pandya came in place of their regular captain KL Rahul for the post-match presentation ceremony. KL Rahul had suffered an injury while fielding. Krunal Pandya said, “We did pretty well in the first half restricting them. It was a great team effort. Really happy with how we have bowled in the tournament”. Lucknow’s spinners had a great game. They picked up 5 wickets in 9 overs conceding 52 runs. KL Rahul sustained an injury while fielding. Talking about the injury Krunal said, “Rahul’s injury is a sad thing. He pulled his hip flexor. I guess, I do not know how bad it is. The medical team will assess it”. Rahul came in to bat at Number 11.

RCB captain Faf happy with the bowlers

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis was awarded player of the match for his cautious inning of 44 runs in 40 balls. His innings helped RCB go past 120. Talking about Ekana's wicket Faf said, “Completely different from Bangalore, To have a fifty-plus partnership in the first six overs was a match-winning partnership in the end”. Josh Hazlewood and Karn Sharma bowled brilliantly and picked up 2 wickets each. Faf praised both and said, “I am super happy for Karn, One of the guys who do hard work but does not get recognition… We missed Hazlewood’s experience but it’s a nice way to ease him into the competition”. Faf could only score one four and one six in his inning.