Faf du Plessis makes half century during RCB vs LSG match
Royal Challengers Bangalore registered their fifth win in IPL 2022 after defeating Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday. Star players Faf du Plessis and Josh Hazlewood were the top performers for the Bangalore side, with the skipper leading from the front.
RCB suffered a double blow early in the innings after Lucknow opted to bowl first. However, du Plessis took the onus on himself and smashed a fabulous 96 off 64 balls, hitting 11 boundaries and two sixes. He helped his team put a competitive total of 181/6 on the board.
The chase by Lucknow was soon derailed by Josh Hazlewood (4/25), who struck early by dismissing Quinton de Kock and Manish Pandey in the Powerplay, putting pressure on Lucknow. The Australian fast bowler came back again in the death overs and got two more crucial wickets in the form of Ayush Badoni and the dangerous Marcus Stoinis.
While du Plessis starred with the bat, Hazlewood proved to be the wrecker-in-chief as RCB won comfortably by 18 runs and climbed up to the second position in the points table.
To date, RCB has reached the final of IPL thrice and has lost all three times. The dependency on the top-order batsmen of the camp, especially Virat Kohli has always been criticised over the years. However, this season there has been a turnaround.
It can be said that the signing of players such as du Plessis and Hazlewood has surely helped RCB plugin gaps this season.
When Royal Challengers bought du Plessis for Rs 7 crores during the mega auction, they not only got the team's captain on board but also a run-machine who is ranked third in the list of highest scorers this season.
He has made 250 runs and has a strike rate of 132.27, so far. With his brilliant captaincy skills and useful batting performances, the former CSK player has contributed to the victories of RCB.
His fellow teammate Josh Hazlewood also made his debut for RCB this season. After winning the bidding war against MI, the Australian seamer was bought for 7.75 crores by Bangalore. He has played three matches and taken eight wickets, so far.
By snaring ten points from seven matches, the team has lighted a flame of hope for their maiden title.
From Kohli stepping down from captaincy, AB de Villiers retirement, Chahal leaving the clan and Dinesh Karthik's entry into the squad, this team has seen various changes in this edition of IPL.
Whether the dream of Ee Sala Cup Namde (this year the cup is ours) by loyal RCB fans will come true is something to watch out for.
