Lucknow Super Giants were 37/3 at the end of power-play, with Royal Challengers Bangalore firmly on top of them in a run chase of 213 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium but Marcus Stoinis brought his side back with his impressive 30-ball 65 while Nicholas Pooran smashed a sensational 19-ball 62, including hitting fastest fifty of the season in 15 balls, to take the team to a last-ball thrilling one-wicket victory in a dramatic match, here on Monday.
Mohammed Siraj gave Bangalore an ideal start as Kyle Mayers chopped on to his stumps. Wayne Parnell dealt double blows to Lucknow, having Deepak Hooda nick behind a cutter to Dinesh Karthik and then forcing Krunal Pandya to edge off an outswinger to the keeper.
Stoinis began his onslaught by flicking off the pads for six off Harshal Patel, then slashed through point and smacked a straight drive down the ground for back-to-back fours. He welcomed Karn Sharma with a pulled six over deep mid-wicket and struck a brace of fours.
A lofted driven six over long-off against Shahbaz Ahmed got Stoinis his fifty in 25 balls. He hit a six each off Karn and Shahbaz, before slicing to deep point off the former. With Rahul flicking straight to deep square leg off Siraj in the 12th over, it felt all was over for Lucknow.
But Pooran had other plans, starting his blitz with a classic square cut off Siraj, with Ayush Badoni taking a four too off him. While Badoni flicked Karn off his legs for four, Pooran upped the ante with successive sixes and teared into Harshal with two pulled sixes, apart from a four cut through short third man.
Parnell came under attack from Pooran, with the left-hander slicing him twice for fours apart from a six whacked over long-on which got him his fifty in just 15 balls. Badoni was lucky in an outside edge flying over short third man for four off Willey while Pooran ended the 16th over with a magnificent swing over deep square leg for six.
His blitzkrieg came to an end in the 17th over when he picked out deep backward square leg off a full toss from Siraj. Jaydev Unadkat guided a yorker past keeper for four off Harshal while Badoni pulled Parnell for another boundary. Badoni moved across to scoop a six off Parnell, but his bat crashed into the stumps to be out hit-wicket.
As Bangalore fielded four fielders outside the circle in final over due to over rate penalty, Harshal added more drama by castling Mark Wood and had Unadkat holing out to a juggling long-on.
After Harshal’s attempt to run out Ravi Bishnoi twice didn’t happen, a fumble from Karthik behind allowed Bishnoi and Avesh Khan to go for a leg-bye, taking Lucknow to a thrilling last ball victory.
Earlier, Virat Kohli was at his aggressive best in attacking pacers in power-play while making 61 off 44 balls. Faf du Plessis was at 33 off 31 balls and looked scratchy but he found his timing to be unbeaten on 79 from 46 deliveries. Glenn Maxwell smacked 59 off just 29 balls, as the crowd was treated to some scintillating strokeplay with Bangalore reaching 212/2 in 20 overs.
Kohli got his first boundary with a not-so-convincing shot — getting a fat top-edge on a pull off Avesh. When offered width on the very next ball, Kohli drove authoritatively through extra cover for four.
Kohli further attacked Avesh in his second over through a brace of crisp drives on the up through cover, and welcomed Krunal Pandya with a delightful loft for six over long-on. Wood’s extra pace didn’t trouble Kohli as he brought out the drive over the bowler’s head for four and on the next ball, rocked back to pull over midwicket for six.
But with the spinners tying them down with control, Kohli took time to reach his fifty in 35 balls. He broke the shackles by pulling Krunal over mid-wicket for six, but holed out to deep mid-wicket off Amit Mishra in the 12th over. By then, du Plessis had hit three fours and with Maxwell coming in, Bangalore were in danger of losing momentum.
Maxwell laid the foundation for the acceleration with a beautiful inside-out slash over cover for four and followed it up with a loft over long-on for six off Mishra. Du Plessis took a brace of sixes off Bishnoi – with the second of it being a monstrous 115-m hit going above the roof of the stadium, with Maxwell closing the over with another six slammed down the ground.
A chipped loft over long-off for six off Wood brought du Plessis’ fifty in 35 balls. Maxwell welcomed Avesh with a hoick over square leg for six, before slicing him over extra cover for four.
The duo then teared into Unadkat — Maxwell sliced through third man for four and earned a reprieve when Krunal dropped his catch on the very next ball. Du Plessis slammed consecutive sixes over the leg side, before ending the over with a sliced four through backward point.
Maxwell brought up his fifty in 24 balls with back-to-back sixes off Avesh — second of which was the shot of the night — opening the bat face late to glide over deep point. After the second-wicket stand completed its century in just 44 balls, du Plessis slammed Avesh through extra cover for four.
Maxwell pulled Wood over deep backward square leg for six in the final over, before the pace bounced back by uprooting the batter’s leg-stump with a 150kph scorcher, as Bangalore fetched a whopping 108 runs in the last seven overs.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 212/2 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 79 not out, Virat Kohli 61; Amit Mishra 1/18, Mark Wood 1/32) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 213/9 in 20 overs (Marcus Stoinis 65, Nicholas Pooran 62; Wayne Parnell 3/41, Harshal Patel 2/48) by 1 wicket.
