OPINION
Follow UsAt 99/3 in 12 overs, needing 83 more in 8 overs with plenty of firepower left in the sheds, the Lucknow Super Giants looked like they had the game in the bag. The wicket was still a batting paradise, and the match was theirs to lose. As it would turn out, KL Rahul’s side would not just end up falling short, but do so by an 18-run margin to fluff the opportunity to go second.
Undoubtedly the dream penultimate over bowled by Josh Hazlewood — 3 runs and the massive wicket of Marcus Stoinis — played a significant hand in LSG slipping to a stinging defeat, but there were plenty of other factors that contributed to the Super Giant’s loss at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Failure to keep RCB’s run rate in check despite picking early wickets
After winning the toss, Lucknow got off to what you would call a ‘dream start’ with the ball. In the very first over, they managed to pick not one but two wickets, one of which was the huge scalp of Virat Kohli. They managed to dismiss Glenn Maxwell inside the powerplay too, and before the 8th over they had RCB four down. At this point, they would have fancied restricting the Royal Challengers to a total under 160.
Yet, they eventually ended up chasing 182.
This was because while Lucknow managed to strike regularly, they were simply unable to keep RCB’s scoring rate in check — all throughout the innings.
After restricting RCB to 10/2 in the first 2 overs, the third over bowled by Dushmantha Chameera cost 19 runs. Despite losing 3 wickets, RCB managed to post 47 in the powerplay, and the runs kept coming even after the restrictions were lifted: the first over of the middle-phase bowled by Ravi Bishnoi cost 15 runs.
What really hurt LSG was the du Plessis-Shahbaz Ahmed partnership. Shahbaz walked in with the score 62/4 in 7.2 overs, but together with the skipper he put on 70 runs in just 48 balls.
There was some exceptional batting from the RCB batters, true, but Lucknow didn’t help themselves as they erred on the discipline front and also made questionable decisions.
The 8th over bowled by Bishnoi, for instance, featured a no-ball that preceded a six (free hit), and a misfield from the skipper that gifted a four. This re-injected momentum into RCB’s innings post the loss of Prabhudessai.
And then Rahul, for some reason, with Shahbaz new to the crease, decided to throw the ball to Marcus Stoinis when there was no real need. That proved costly for not only did RCB collect 14 off the over, it also ended up giving Shahbaz the opportunity to settle.
By the time Shahbaz got out the score was 132/5 in 15.2 overs, by which point RCB had successfully neutralized the loss of early wickets.
Letting Shahbaz and Maxwell go unpunished with the ball
Unquestionably, the Lucknow batters would be sitting in the dressing room looking back on the chase as a missed opportunity. Above all, though, what they would be ruing the most would be how they failed to take the attack to RCB’s fifth and sixth bowlers.
Between them, Shahbaz Ahmed and Glenn Maxwell bowled 6 overs. Astonishingly, the pair conceded just 36 runs, with Maxwell also managing to pick the crucial wicket of Krunal Pandya.
Maxwell took the new ball — no surprises, given the presence of de Kock — and slid one more in the 14th over. What LSG would really be regretting is just how they let Shahbaz Ahmed bowl his overs, despite the presence of a left-hander in the middle.
Shahbaz bowled overs 4, 7, 9 and 11 and conceded just two boundaries. He bowled 10 balls to his supposed ‘unfavorable match-up’, the left-handed Krunal Pandya, but conceded only 12 runs against the southpaw.
The two finger-spinners quietly sliding-in the overs meant that at no point did Faf du Plessis’ plans get disrupted. He was able to save his best bowlers for the last, and they duly delivered.
Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni - too slow to start!
When Deepak Hooda strode out to the middle in the 9th over, the required run rate for LSG was 9.83. By the time he was dismissed, it had climbed up to 10.37.
When Ayush Badoni walked out to bat at No.6, ahead of Stoinis, the required rate for LSG was 10.37. By the time he was dismissed, it had risen up to 14.24.
Hooda and Badoni were far from the only people to blame for LSG’s botched chase, but the pair, overall, had a negative impact on the night.
Between them, on the night, Hooda and Badoni faced 27 balls. Every third ball was a dot, and neither of the batters also managed to clear the boundary. The two batters were also extremely slow to start despite walking in at a time when quick runs were the need of the hour. Badoni struck at 112.5 in his first 8 balls, while Hooda struck at 87.5.
What the slow knocks from Badoni and Hooda ended up doing was once again leave Marcus Stoinis with too much to do. By the time the Australian walked to bat, the required rate was 12 already; he could ill-afford to take time to settle.
Would the result have been different had Stoinis walked in at either No.5 or No.6? No one knows. What we know is this: 7 games in, Lucknow are still trying to figure out their ideal batting order.
Josh Hazlewood happened!
Of course, it would be an injustice to not talk about Josh Hazlewood. Du Plessis might have been awarded the Man of the Match, but on a batter-friendly wicket, Hazlewood was the difference between the two sides.
We’ll get to the outrageous final spell that he bowled, but what’s not to be forgotten is the two crucial blows he struck in the powerplay. In RCB’s last match against DC, too, it was Hazlewood who drew first blood by removing Prithvi Shaw, and on Tuesday, he instantly put RCB on the front-foot in the second innings by dismissing Quinton de Kock.
We, of course, are accustomed to seeing him ruin sides with the new ball, but what was truly astonishing was the impact he had with the old nut.
RCB had a slight edge when Hazlewood came to bowl his third over, with Lucknow requiring 52 off the final 4. But LSG still had Stoinis and Badoni in the middle, and Holder waiting in the sheds. One big over was all that Rahul’s side needed to get back into the chase and push for a win.
Hazlewood conceded a four off the first ball of his second spell, but then bowled 11 of the best balls delivered by any bowler at the death so far in IPL 2022.
The right-armer went 1 2 W wd 1 1 0 W 0 0 wd 1 1 as he unleashed everything in his arsenal, starting from knuckle balls that leave the right-hander to yorkers tailing into the batter. He pocketed the big fish that is Stoinis, and delivered the ultimate knockout punch.
Hazlewood being a powerplay specialist alone is quite a menace. If he’s going to bowl like this at the death, then well, we better start fearing this RCB side.
