IPL 2022: I wanted to make a big impact, says Du Plessis after RCB beat Super Giants

RCB captain Faf du Plessis scored a brilliant 96 off 64 balls to help his team beat the Lucknow Super Giants

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis led from the front with a sparkling 96 to set up an 18-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.

The South African helped Bangalore fight back with his 64-ball knock after they lost two wickets, including Virat Kohli for a golden duck, in the opening over in Mumbai.

RCB posted 181 for six, a total their bowlers — led by Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood — defended by restricting Lucknow to 163-8.

Bangalore, who are searching for their maiden IPL title, moved to second in the table behind leaders Gujarat Titans. Lucknow slipped to fourth.

Hazlewood returned with figures of 4-25, including the key wickets of opener Quinton de Kock for three and Marcus Stoinis, who made a 15-ball 24 before being bowled by his international teammate in the penultimate over.

Du Plessis put on a 70-run fifth-wicket stand with Shahbaz Ahmed, who made 26, and then a brisk 49 with the in-form Dinesh Karthik.

“Amazingly tonight we were in trouble, as we were in the last three or four games, but we have a knack of someone getting through it, stabilising the innings, having composure and then towards the end we’re a very dangerous team. Today, I’m grateful that I could do it,” Du Plessis said.

“I was hungry for some runs. I wanted to make a big impact because the last few games had been quiet for me. I went through my own processes and blueprint for scoring runs so I had a clear mental image going into this match and glad that it paid off.”

The former South Africa skipper recorded his joint-highest score in the IPL but missed out on a hundred after being dismissed by Jason Holder in the final over of the innings.

Australian big-hitter Glenn Maxwell contributed an 11-ball 23.

The KL Rahul-led Lucknow, who are one of two new franchises along with Gujarat, lost regular wickets in their chase, with Hazlewood striking twice in his first two overs.

Rahul made 30 and Krunal Pandya hit 42 off 28 balls but it was Stoinis’ late blitz that raised Lucknow’s hopes.

“The pitch was sticky. We got the early breakthroughs we were looking for but we couldn’t squeeze in the middle. We needed one big partnership — we saw what Faf did for RCB,” Rahul said.

“I think we needed one batter in the top three or four to play a long innings and for other batters to play around with him but we couldn’t get that.”