Mayank Yadav’s Explosive Bowling and De Kock’s Stellar Batting Lead LSG to Victory Against RCB In 2024
Mayank Yadav’s blistering pace and Quinton de Kock’s dominant batting display propelled Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to a commanding victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2024.
With two wins in three games, LSG moves up to fourth place in the standings, while RCB is just one game from the basement after suffering three losses in a row.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 153 (Lomror 33, Mayank 3-14, Naveen 2-25) lost to Lucknow Super Giants 181 for 5 (De Kock 81, Pooran 40*, Maxwell 2-23) by a margin of 28 runs.
At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Mayank Yadav struck gold again, taking out Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green en route to figures of 4-0-14-3. The Lucknow Super Giants successfully defended 181, handing Royal Challengers Bengaluru their second straight loss.
With his second consecutive half-century, Quinton de Kock set the stage for LSG’s triumph. As their captain, KL Rahul made a comeback to the game, although he was limited to 20 off 14 balls. On a two-paced pitch, Nicholas Pooran, who had led LSG against Punjab Kings in their previous match, found a higher gear and hammered an unbeaten 40 off 21 balls to help his club beyond 180.
Reece Topley and Yash Dayal’s slower balls from the back of the hand were stuck in the surface, but Mayank isn’t sluggish. To stop RCB’s pursuit, he consistently exceeded 150 kph and even increased it to a season-high 156.7 kph.
De Cock’s Back to Back Fifty
Due to Kyle Mayers’ preference, De Kock began the previous IPL season on the bench. Before SA20 2024, De Kock was therefore relieved of his captaincy for the Super Giants of Durban. He only played two innings as an opener in the SA20, but after back-to-back half-centuries in the IPL, he has once again established himself as the best player.
Upon being provided breadth by Topley, de Kock’s SA20 teammate, he kept on the leg side of the ball and crushed him through the covers. Mohammed Siraj didn’t give de Kock as much width, but de Kock picked him over square leg when he miscuted on height and bowled at the thigh. 32 of the 54 runs that LSG scored during the powerplay after Rahul was out were claimed by De Kock.
In the next over, Maxwell might have dismissed De Kock for 32, but he was dropped. Before Topley eventually had him hole out to long-off for 81 off 56 balls, he had already added 49 to his total.
Maxwell Impressive With The Ball
Maxwell came up with 4-0-23-2, including 12 dots, on a night when Mayank Dagar, the RCB’s main spinner, bowled just two overs for 23 runs. During the powerplay, he stood up to bowl two overs and got Rahul caught at extra-cover with a hard-length delivery.
After the powerplay, he came back to eject Marcus Stoinis (24 in 15), another right-hander, by putting the ball out of reach of his reach. Moreover, Maxwell defeated de Kock in their encounter by restricting him to four runs off of eight balls. The fact that Maxwell has taken the most wickets for RCB this season after four games—four strikes—highlights the inadequacy of the front-line bowlers.
Pooran Takes off After A Slow Start
Pooran started slowly; at one point, he was on eight balls out of ten. The crowd at the Chinnaswamy was filled to roar after he struck five sixes in the final two overs. The best of the bunch was the six that was shanked off a slower ball thrown by Topley that traveled at 110.4 kph and struck the stadium ceiling.
When playing against top power hitters like Pooran, there is very little room for error. Upon Topley’s slight mishandling of his broader yorkers, Pooran punished him with a pair of sixes to restore LSG’s lead.
Siddharth Gets In For The IPL
The fingerspinner from Tamil Nadu, M Siddharth, was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. He and his family relocated to Chennai so that he may pursue a career in cricket. He aspired to be the next Irfan Pathan, but his academy’s teachers pointed out that he lacked the quickness to be a fast bowler.
Siddharth changed to left-arm spin as a result, but he still swings the new ball. His specialty in the Tamil Nadu Premier League is that. The LSG team management was so confident in him that they supported him to bowl first-ball against both Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli that evening.
Following his darting inswingers at over 110 kph, Siddharth decelerated and pulled ahead of Kohli. Du Plessis was run out in the subsequent over, putting RCB at 42 for 2 in the sixth over.
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Mayank Express Continues
Maxwell avoided Mayank’s first bouncer, but the batsman was forced to make a hasty catch at mid-on to go for a duck when he dug one in and got it to creep towards Maxwell’s ribs at 151 kph.
Subsequently, Mayank struck the top of Green’s off stump with yet another blistering ball in his subsequent over. Although the speed gun indicated 146.2 kph, Green’s delayed answer implied that the actual speed may have been far higher.
Although Green was raised on Perth’s fast-paced, lively tracks, an Indian rookie who was only in his 12th T20 match made the all-round international appear inexperienced. Green just remained leg side to the ball and tossed it around. With a gleeful wheeling away, Mayank would not be stopped.
Rajat Patidar was then dismissed for 29 off 21 balls by him. Mahipal Lomror hit 33 off 13 balls at that time, but RCB required 79 off 34 balls, and the chase was always out of reach.
For the previous two seasons, Mayank did not play in a single game at LSG, mostly due to injury. By winning two Player-of-the-Match accolades in his first two matches, he has now become the first player in IPL history to do so.
