IPL 2023 - Live Report: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Lucknow Super Giants, Bengaluru

Lucknow win, but that's not half the story! Avesh flings down his helmet in a mixture of glee and fury, after RCB had two clear-cut chances to take this to the Super Over!

First, Harshal attempted a run-out at the non-striker's end, but after missing with his initial flick at the stumps, he threw down the wicket with Bishnoi scrambling to make his ground, but the moment was lost - the ball was dead by the time he attempted his shy.

Then, Avesh had a wipe at a length ball outside off, couldn't connect, but DK behind the stumps couldn't either. His fumble lost critical split-seconds as Lucknow sprinted the winning run, to surge clear at the top of the table, after chasing down 213 with the final ball of the match!

Cripes. We wondered what could possibly top KKR's five-sixes finish yesterday. I think we've just found out!

LSG's 213 is the highest successful target chase with 9 wickets down in T20 cricket. Previous highest was 200 by Lahore Lions against Karachi Dolphins in 2006.

It's also the fourth one-wicket win in IPL history, and the first since Mumbai lost two such games in the space of a week in April 2018. Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya were involved in that one too...

A punch into the covers gets another single for Unadkat, but it also leaves the weaker link Mark Wood in the firing line. Sure enough, Harshal takes the pace off a full toss, and slaps the middle stump as Wood misses a loose drive. It's suddenly 4 from 4 with the No.10 on strike!

Outstanding from Bishnoi, however, leaning into the attempted yorker with an open face and a push into space on the off side. He rushes back for two, and now it's 2 from 3 needed.

Harshal drags his length back next ball, and a swish in the air to backward square brings the scores level... don't say it, don't say it...

Back of a length again, a yank across the line for glory... but Unadkat doesn't get hold of it! Faf scuttles in at mid-on, nearly over-runs it with the reverse cup, clings on at the second attempt. And it's 1 from 1 needed!

With 15 to defend off 12, there's not a lot for Wayne Parnell to work with, and so clearly his best bet is to deny the batters a chance to reach the ball. But his first two deliveries outside off are too wide for the umpire's liking, and thereafter it's too easy to pick off his offerings. Badoni steps across to off with decisive footwork and flat-bats a pull through deep midwicket to take the rate below six ... and one ball later, he looks to have brought the scores level with a clean sweep for six off the stumps through backward square... but he follows through into his stumps, and RCB are still alive! A pair of singles leave five to defend in the final over.

Drama in Mohammad Siraj's final over, as Pooran's outstanding innings ends in mildly controversial fashion, to a lofted clip off a hip-high full-toss, straight to Shahbaz on the rope at deep backward square. Should it have been a no-ball though? The decision is reviewed, and though it's right on the limit, it's deemed legal, and RCB's main man has made a critical incision...

Earlier in the same over, Badoni had been unable to lay much bat on ball against his waspish lengths. But that's Siraj's allocation done and dusted, and with just 24 needed from the final 18 balls, there's not a lot left up Faf's bowling sleeve.

Time for a time out. It's Lucknow's to lose now, but David Willey tries to push the rate back out with a well-directed final over - at least until his final delivery, which Pooran swings magnificently over deep square leg for yet another six. He nearly succumbed in the same over, beaten for pace by a well-directed bouncer that ballooned off the glove into no-man's land. Despite doing plenty right, Willey still goes for 14, and he's bowled out too ... perhaps a few overs sooner than would have been ideal, but RCB haven't got time to wait for the death overs to swallow them up.

Pooran's fifty, incidentally, is the third-fastest in IPL history. What a time to produce it.

Karn Sharma is headed for some wince-inducing figures. He's served up 48 runs in three overs already, including 20 off this latest effort, courtesy of a flick off the legs for four from Ayush Badoni, and two sixes in consecutive balls from the free-flowing Pooran, who is cashing in while RCB are committed to leaning on their spinner.

Pooran keeps the pressure up on Harshal Patel too, whose first over went for 17, and whose seventh ball sails away for six more over fine leg. A wide cutter in the same over gets cuffed away for four more through deep third, and when Pooran pivots into a flat, violent pull for six over square leg, it's truly game on! Patel has gone for 35 in two overs, the 150 is up, and Pooran has marched along to 40 from 12 balls!

The spinners aren't winning this one, Karn's intervention notwithstanding, so back comes the main man Siraj, and out goes the off-colour KL Rahul, who never got going in his 18 from 20. It's a pumped-up Kohli at deep square leg who clings onto a lofted clip off the toes. That's five-down now... and while KL wasn't getting much of a move on, he was at least a useful foil for the others to tee off against. This will be a test of Lucknow's tail, one way or another.

That's the critical wicket, and is it also the game? Karn Sharma had already been drilled for another effortless six over long-off, Stoinis's fifth of a rampant innings. But the impact sub holds his nerve, tosses his line out a touch wider, and induces a skewed launch out to deep point, where Shahbaz juggles a nervy but vital catch, at about the fourth attempt.

But, the game is definitely not over with Nicholas Pooran emerging for the final ten overs... and his second ball is launched with a pivoting front knee, high over cow corner to make it a 14-run over... more than the required rate.

Time for a strategic time-out, with the contest more intriguingly poised than the scoreline might suggest. Most of this is thanks to the long levers of Marcus Stoinis, who has muscled along to 46 from 23 - his compatriot Glenn Maxwell reached his own fifty in 24, so he's already man-marked that particular effort, he just needs someone to step into Faf and Virat roles.

Karn Sharma, RCB's impact sub, is also the first sighting of spin in Lucknow's innings. Their own spinners applied the handbrake to good effort after RCB's powerplay, but this might be the signal for Stoinis to cut loose. Shahbaz Ahmed's left-arm tweakers are also dispatched for a brace of sixes over long-off and cow corner... the first to reach a 25-ball fifty. It's on!

The end of a subdued powerplay for Lucknow, 37 for 3 all told, and David Willey keeps chugging through his work with a six-singles over in the seventh, leaving KL Rahul and Marcus Stoinis unsure if they should stick or twist.

Harshal Patel enters the fray for the eighth, and Stoinis decides that, with a required rate already north of two a ball, there's no time for standing on ceremony. A swish off the pads for six first ball, then a slash through point and a straight-driven full-toss make it 14 from 3. Patel tightens things up to close out the over with less damage, but that's the tempo that Lucknow need to keep if they are to keep this chase alive.

Harbhajan Singh was Wayne Parnell's last IPL wicket, for Delhi Daredevils against Mumbai in May 2014, nine long years ago. Now he's back in the thick of it with his fourth and sixth legal deliveries. First, Dinesh Karthik clings onto a thin edge low to his right, as Deepak Hooda drives through a cutter with an open face and pays the price. Then Krunal Pandya becomes the second duck of a flat-lining innings, again courtesy of a comfortable take from DK!

RCB's first three batters were responsible for 211 runs in the 19.5 overs that they faced between them. Lucknow's first three wickets, by contrast, have mustered nine runs from 15 balls...

And right on cue, here's Sampath: "Wayne Parnell's gap of 8 years and 322 days between his two appearances in the IPL is the second longest behind Matthew Wade (10 years and 312 days - 2011 to 2022)". So now we know.

Lucknow's first run off the bat comes from their eighth legal delivery, and it's a madcap single from KL Rahul that would have been out by a yard had the shy from Maxwell at midwicket found its target. David Willey, armed with the new ball, nearly does for Hooda in the same over, as Faf at wide long-off rushes back to gather an inside-out loft that plugs a few metres inside the rope. As platforms for a 213-run chase go, this is not the most convincing just yet.

An ideal start for RCB as Kyle Mayers departs for a duck. He only managed to lay bat on one of his three legal deliveries, but rather wishes he hadn't as he prods tentatively outside off and inside-edges onto his off stump. Lucknow's only runs in the first over are extras, as Siraj over-cooks an outswinger then slides a length ball into Deepak Hooda's pads for four leg-byes through backward square.

Real energy and fight from Wood at the back-end of a gruelling innings for Lucknow. He's bending his back with habitual verve, touching 150kph and doing his utmost to unsettle RCB's free-flowing batters, until Maxwell latches onto his fourth legal delivery with a wipe into the stands behind square. One ball later, Wood simply responds with extra beans, to pluck out the top of leg as Maxwell swings for the hills, as well he might. He's gone for 59 from 29.

His over also included the unusual sight of a kite stopping play - the bird of prey, that is, rather than the fluttery fabric variety. The bird swooped in for the kill on a mahoosive moth (but missed) behind the bowler's arm, just as Wood was entering his gather. Amid all that drama, Wood returns the feisty figures of 1 for 32 in four, the most economical of the innings. But Faf has 79 not out from 46 at the end of it all. Tidy work.

... and he does so in magnificent style, with back-to-back sixes off Avesh, the second of which is arguably the shot of the night - a stiff-armed lift up and over deep point, as Maxi finds angles that simply don't exist for lesser players. The hundred stand comes up from a riotous 44 balls in the same over, whereupon du Plessis celebrates with a gleeful slam through extra cover. The 200 is up with an over of chaos still to come. This could yet be a monster target for Lucknow to hunt down.

The fourth fifty of this innings has come up in 15 balls... ouch.

A bad miss on the deep third rope as Maxwell, one ball after picking off another four through the same region, slices across a wide full-length delivery from Unadkat, but Krunal Pandya over-runs his take and nearly spills it over the boundary for good measure. The let-off brings du Plessis back on strike, and the pain is piled on for Unadkat, with consecutive slammed sixes over the leg side, the latter from a high full-toss that is reviewed for a no-ball but dips below the waist just in time. Undeterred, Faf lines up the fuller length outside off, letting one wide sail by before slapping another four through backward point. RCB are marching towards 200 now.

A checked-drive over long-off for another six off Mark Wood, and Faf du Plessis romps through to a 35-ball fifty - the same tempo as Kohli, albeit seven overs later than his opening partner, in a measure of the extent to which he's played the holding role. Wood had whanged in a fierce short ball first-up in his third over, but it was belatedly called wide to the bowler's visible displeasure.

LSG bring in Impact Sub Badoni for Mishra.

Now we're talking! A monstrous 115-metre six from Faf du Plessis sails over the Chinnaswamy roof, to the visible astonishment of Maxwell at the non-striker's end. As a measure of how vast that is, it's almost twice as long as his previous six of the over, a 69-metre slap up and over the covers as Bishnoi's variations are finally picked apart in the midst of his fourth and final over. Not to be outdone, Maxwell dumps Bishnoi's final ball towards the press box behind the bowler's arm a 20-run over... he'd only gone for 19 in his first three!

Mishra gets a hand to a hard slap back down the pitch, as du Plessis attempts to step on the accelerator, but it's Maxwell who breaks the shackles with two strokes of raw authority in the same over. A wristy inside-out slam through the covers as he drives through the legbreak, then an effortless loft for an 83m six over long-on.

It's been six consecutive overs of spin since Wood's initial over in the powerplay, but with Kohli out of the reckoning, and the new man Maxwell still finding his feet, it's the perfect time to crank up the tempo once more. All Maxwell can manage is a leg-bye from his third ball, with Wood finding some glove-hassling lift from a good length. Faf also manages to get some pad on a fast full length, slightly misdirected down the leg side, but it's just five off the over, and none off the bat as mid-on gathers a hard slap through the line. RCB are just in danger of losing their impetus here.

It was compelling while it lasted, but Virat Kohli's innings ends on 61 from 44 balls, with RCB rattling along to 96 for 1 in the 12th over, albeit a touch becalmed by this post-Powerplay diet of spin. A length ball in Amit Mishra's first over is slammed hard and flat out to deep midwicket, where Marcus Stoinis is perfectly placed to break a superb stand. Out comes Glenn Maxwell at No.3, whose first shot signals his intention to keep things moving. An inside-out slap lands out of point's reach as he gets underneath his stroke.

Sampath has an interesting stat for us:

50-plus scores against most teams in the IPL:
13 - Virat Kohli (CSK, DC, DD, GL, GT, KXIP, KKR, LSG, MI, PWI, RR, RPS, SRH)
12 - Gautam Gambhir (CSK, DC, DD, GL, KXIP, KKR, MI, PWI, RCB, RR, RPS, SRH)
12 - Shikhar Dhawan (CSK, DC, DD, GL, GT, KXIP, KKR, MI, RCB, RR, RPS, SRH)
12 - David Warner (CSK, DC, DD, GL, KXIP, KKR, LSG, MI, PWI, RCB, RR, SRH)

A relative period of serenity as Lucknow respond to that Time Out by taking the pace off the ball. Bishnoi's legbreaks, wrapped around a return for Krunal with more protection in the deep, result in three boundary-less overs, but Kohli still eases along to a 35-ball fifty, with Faf du Plessis biding his time on a comfortable 20 from 19.

Here's the full list, courtesy of Sampath and Ask Cricinfo ... he's on it today.

And, as Matt Roller notes, Kohli vs Wood in T20s has been a one-sided match-up.

Mark Wood is back from a bout of flu ... but his third ball quite simply flew... Kohli isn't fazed by the threat of extra pace on what is now quite clearly a belter of a surface, and after plonking a drive on the up back over the bowler's head, he simply rocks back to Wood's next ball, and pivots through a slow-motion pull for six over midwicket. The fifty stand comes up inside the powerplay, and understandbly, Lucknow take a strategic time-out at the end of a chastening six overs.

He's in some form already in this competition following his 82 not out from 49 balls against Mumbai Indians, and already Kohli is re-entering that same zone. The damage to Lucknow is limited so far, but Kohli's two boundaries in the space of three balls from Avesh's second over were things of beauty - a brace of exemplary drives, on the up, through the covers, piercing the slenderest of gaps with impeccable placement. He has to adjust well while lining up a third in the over, with Avesh hitting the pitch a touch harder.

Lucknow turn to spin early, but Kohli - his juices flowing - leans through an exquisite loft for six over long-on, all timing and languid power to deposit Krunal Pandya into the stands.

The first six of the match is one of the least convincing of Virat Kohli's career - a steepling top-edge as he swings a pull off his eyebrows and clears the boundary over the keeper's head. His next shot, off Avesh Khan, is a more convincing club through the covers, though Avesh then beats him outside off with a tight-lined lifter... honours just about even, despite the 11 runs off the over.

Jaydev Unadkat keeps it tight from the outset for Lucknow, with Virat Kohli's second-ball smack over the covers the only notable shot in anger. He advanced with intent but couldn't quite line up a sharp left-arm line from over the wicket. Seems to be coming onto the bat fairly nicely from initial evidence, however.

A correct call from KL Rahul, and he's going to insert RCB in front of their home fans, with Mark Wood back from a bout of flu and itching to add to his eight wickets from two outings to date. Parnell makes his RCB debut as expected, with Faf du Plessis admitted he was "50-50" about what to do had he won the toss.

RCB: 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Faf du Plessis (capt), 3 Mahipal Lomror, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Shahbaz Ahmed, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Anuj Rawat, 8 David Willey, 9 Wayne Parnell, 10 Harshal Patel, 11 Mohammed Siraj

LSG: 1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Nicholas Pooran, 7 Jaydev Unadkat, 8 Amit Mishra, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Ravi Bishnoi

Our spies at the Chinnaswamy have clocked both Parnell and David Willey marking out their run-ups for RCB, along with Mark Wood, whose 5 for 14 on debut for Lucknow was one of the more stunning displays of this year's tournament.

Nicholas Pooran was certainly impressed by what he saw from his team-mate: "He’s rapid. It’s always nice to have an X-Factor in your team who can bowl 90mph+ and get wickets. It’s been amazing so far. We’ve obviously got off to a good start. I am just happy that I could contribute to the team. We’ve done well. Won two games in Lucknow and lost to Chennai in Chennai. Hopefully we can leave Bangalore with a win."

No sign of Wanindu Hasaranga just yet. He doesn't appear to have been aboard the team bus, so we'll see what's what on that front in due course. He was expected to arrive from Sri Lanka duty in New Zealand today, but it's possible this match is a game too soon for him.

It's been a fair old while since Wayne Parnell was part of the IPL conversation. He was a fixture for Pune Warriors for three seasons from 2011 to 2013, before a one-off season for Delhi the following year. But now, after nearly a decade away, he's been brought in by RCB as a replacement for the luckless Reece Topley, whose dislocated shoulder on debut continued a miserable run of misfortune that included an ankle injury during a warm-up for England's victorious T20 World Cup campaign last year.

Here's what Parnell had to say for himself during the pre-match build-up just now: "Nice to be back in Bangalore and being at the Chinnaswamy again will be satisfying. I think it’s just about trying to stay level. We played well in the first game and things didn’t go out way in the second. It’s just about staying level and being consistent and we’ll be alright. Whenever I’ve played under Faf, he has really motivated me to do well. He gives you freedom to express yourself and that’s what you want from your captain."

Parnell's compatriot Quinton de Kock was first out to practice at the Chinnaswamy this afternoon. He'll doubtless have a big role to play for Lucknow.