Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) missed the chance to go to the top of the points table after losing by nine runs to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Thursday night.One of the key moments in the chase of 213 was the dismissal of Virat Kohli for a two-ball duck. Although Rajat Patidar and Tim David tried to bring RCB back into the game, their efforts were not enough to take the team to victory.
Even after the defeat, RCB stayed in the top four. However, they still need better performances in their remaining four matches.After the game, Kohli spoke to the team in the dressing room and asked the players to stay positive and enjoy the rest of the season.“Why did we get those six wins? Because we were enjoying, and we were only worried about our standards, and we’re not even looking at the opposition,” Kohli said in the video shared by RCB on X.“And I want to see absolute enjoyment and excitement to get back in the park, regardless of what the jersey colour on the other side is,” he added.LSG bowlers, led by Prince Yadav, who picked up 3/33, stopped RCB at 203/6.Mohammed Shami gave LSG an early breakthrough in the first over before Prince bowled Kohli with a delivery that left RCB at 9/2.RCB then fought back through a 95-run partnership between Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 34, and captain Patidar, who made 61. Patidar attacked the bowlers and briefly shifted the momentum towards RCB.Late contributions from Tim David, Krunal Pandya, who remained unbeaten on 28, and Romario Shepherd, who stayed unbeaten on 23, kept RCB in the match.But Digvesh Rathi defended 20 runs in the last over to help LSG seal the win.
