IPL 2023: RCB win grudge match before fight moves off the pitch

Synopsis: On a black soil scrap of a game, LSG combust mindlessly after RCB toil hard to reach 126
LSG combust
If pictures were taken of RCB’s batsmen at the moment the ball landed on the black-soiled Lucknow pitch, what would have been revealed? A sense of drust, perhaps. How slow is the ball going to peel off the surface? How much do I have to delay my downward bat swing?
If the same pictures were taken of Lucknow Super Giants’ batsmen, what would they show? Reckless hope, and a death wish, rolled in one.
LSG knew the sluggish pitch. They knew the 127-run target. And yet, they batted poorly, trying to go too hard on a pitch that demanded skill and respect. The shots didn’t belong to this track; and unsurprisingly they combusted.
Royal Challengers Bangalore players celebrate after wining against Lucknow Super Giants during the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match in Lucknow, India, Monday, May 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav)
Off the second ball, Kyle Mayers went for an expansive punched-aerial hit off the back foot and could only send it as far as mid-on. At least, he was the natural aggressor trying to see if he could use his game to get some quick runs in the Powerplay. The others didn’t have much excuse, especially as they were batting with the knowledge that KL Rahul was unlikely to bat after injuring his right thigh during fielding. He hobbled out to bat as the last man, with 24 needed from 8, but unsurprisingly couldn’t do much.
Krunal Pandya, who had smoked three boundaries off Mohammed Siraj, went down the track to Glenn Maxwell’s off-spin and punched it straight to long-off where Virat Kohli accepted it, sent a flying kiss to the Lucknow crowd before gesturing them to stay quiet, with a finger on his lip. Ayush Badoni tried to hit Josh Hazlewood, playing his first game this season, on the up and couldn’t clear cover. Deepak Hooda rushed out to slog Hazaranga and was stumped, Nicolas Pooran heaved Karn Sharma to deep midwicket, and Marcus Stonis skied the attempted big hit off the leg-break from Sharma to long-off. It was 65 for 6, in the 11th over and the chase was effectively over.
A black soil scrap
The black soil takes away the timing from batsmen; the ball stops and spins slowly and affects their downward bat swing, the areas they can target, their drives, their punches, and sucks out pace and life of their batting souls. The main thing the seamers have to do is to ensure they don’t hurl the ball too full, but hit the back of length, allowing the pitch to sponge out the pace off the ball. Spinners have it easier, though they do have to occasionally slow up the pace if they are naturally too rapid.
Like Ravi Bishnoi adjusted in the ninth over of the innings. He had Virat Kohli in a messy tangle, squirting balls on the body, when suddenly he slipped in the googly well wide of the off- stump. For a batsman of such stature, Kohli can be pretty average when he tries to move down the track to a spinner as opposed to his confident sashays to pacers. The confidence isn’t just there. And it showed on Monday night too. He went down the pitch but immediately realised he was in trouble as soon as he spotted the outside-off line of the ball. He was set up for a straighter line but now had to lunge out for an awkward flail, and unsurprisingly failed to connect.
Lucknow Super Giants’ Ravi Bishnoi celebrates the wicket of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli, right, with his teammates during the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Lucknow, India, Monday, May 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav)
It’s the sort of pitch that one often sees in Bangladesh and their spinners use even seam angles to work in their favour. With the right seam angles, they undercut, skid, spin the odd one, and generally keep the trajectory low, and allow the natural variation to come into the equation. The Lucknow pitch seemed Bangladeshi in nature, and all batsmen struggled.
In the 13th over, Glenn Maxwell screamed and banged the bat on the ground when the DRS showed Bishnoi’s delivery hitting the top of middle, upholding the umpire’s call, but he would have to look at the reverse sweep he attempted: he was through the shot way too early and the black-soiled ball winked past him ever so slowly to trap him LBW.
Veteran Amit Mishra would probably have a look back at his spell and wince a touch. Whenever he bowled the leg-break, he got purchase and had the batsmen in trouble. But for some reason, he chose to deal in the front-of-the-hand sliders a lot more and was picked away – Dinesh Karthik even pulled him for a six. But when he relied on his leg-breaks, he picked two wickets – Suyash Prabhudessai flat-batting to long-off and Faf du Plessis skying an attempted slog.

More than others, du Plessis (44) adjusted the bat swing better, holding it for that fraction longer to nurdle the ball around. At the innings break, he would say that RCB were targeting 135. As things turned out, they had more than enough.