IPL 2023: Fifties from Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Maxwell power RCB to 212/2 against LSG

Bengaluru: Blistering fifties from Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell guided Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to 212/2 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.
For RCB, Kohli slammed 61 and Faf du Plessis played an unbeaten knock of 79 runs off 46 balls while Maxwell scored a blistering 59 in 29 deliveries. For LSG, Mark Wood and Amit Mishra bagged one wicket each. Put to bat first, Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a fiery start as their openers Virat Kohli
and captain Faf du Plessis slammed Lucknow all around the ground from the start of the first over.
Kohli hammered Avesh Khan for 13 runs with the help of one six and one four in the second over of the game. The batting pair of Kohli and du Plessis were decisive in their approach and made the Lucknow bowlers toil hard making merry of the excellent batting conditions on offer.
The duo of Kohli and du Plessis took Bangalore's total beyond the 50-run mark in the 6th over of the game. du Plessis gave strong support to hard-hitter Kohli from the other end as Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 56 runs in the powerplay.
Kohli in ominous form slammed a stunning half-century in 35 balls in the 9th over of the game.
The Bangalore duo rotated the strike brilliantly, not allowing the LSG bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls on offer.
Veteran bowler Amit Mishra drew first blood as he dismissed well-set batter Kohli. Kohli's knock of 61 runs from 44 balls came to an end but the batter had done his job well and gave his team a solid platform.
The right-handed batter Glenn Maxwell then came out to bat. Maxwell slammed one six and four in Mishra's over and gathered 13 runs. du Plessis and Maxwell hammered Ravi Bishnoi for 20 runs slamming three sixes in the 15th over of the game. du Plessis slammed 115M six off Bishnoi's delivery.
While slamming Lucknow bowlers all around the ground, du Plessis brought up his blistering half-century in 35 balls with a huge six in the 16th over of the game. du Plessis and Maxwell both were aggressors of the batting pair, smashing boundaries regularly. The duo stitched a solid 50-run partnership for their team.
Faf du Plessis continued his carnage as he hammered Jaydev Unadkat for two back-to-back huge sixes and one four, gathering 23 runs in the 18th over of the game.
With slamming back-to-back two sixes, Maxwell brought up his blistering fifty in 24 balls. The duo also brought up their 100-run partnership in 41 runs and took their team's total beyond the 200-run mark.
In the 20th over, Mark Wood delivered a stunning delivery to bowled out Maxwell after scoring 59 off 29 runs. Dinesh Karthik then came out at the crease and took one single to take RCB's total to 212/2 in 20 overs.
Brief score: Royal Challengers Bangalore 212/2 (Virat Kohli 61, Faf du Plessis 79*; Amit Mishra 1-18) vs Lucknow Super Giants. (ANI)