Marsh century keeps LSG alive as RCB miss top spot

Twenty runs in the final over can make even calm dugouts chew their nails. Rishabh Pant still handed the ball to Digvesh Rathi, with Romario Shepherd waiting to swing.

That gamble kept Lucknow Super Giants alive in IPL 2026. They beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 9 runs in Lucknow, after a rain-hit 19-over contest that had almost everything.

For RCB, this was more than one bad night. The defending champions missed a chance to move to No. 1. For LSG, this was oxygen.

Marsh sets up Lucknow’s charge

Mitchell Marsh gave LSG the kind of innings that changes dressing-room mood. He smashed 111 off 56 balls, with 9 fours and 9 sixes.

That is not just a century. That is a full attack on the bowling plan.

Marsh and Arshin Kulkarni added 95 for the first wicket. Kulkarni made 17 from 24 balls, which looks slow on paper. But his job was clear. Stay there while Marsh broke the field.

Nicholas Pooran then added 38 from 23 balls. Pant finished the innings with a sharp unbeaten 32 from just 10 balls. That late burst pushed LSG to 209 for 3 in 19 overs.

RCB used Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya and Rasikh Salam for one wicket each. But none of them truly stopped the scoring. On a night like this, containing Marsh was the real match.

RCB stumble before fighting back

Rain changed the chase. Under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, RCB needed 213 in 19 overs. In simple terms, the target was adjusted because the match lost overs.

That made the chase steep from the start. Then Mohammed Shami made it worse for Bengaluru.

Shami removed Jacob Bethell for 4 in the first over. Prince Yadav struck in the second over, sending Virat Kohli back for a duck. In two overs, RCB had lost both openers and most of their calm.

This is where strong teams usually show their depth. Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal did exactly that. They added 95 runs for the third wicket from 53 balls.

Padikkal made 35 from 25 balls. Patidar played the captain’s hand, scoring 61 from 31 balls. For a while, RCB looked like they had absorbed the early shock.

But chases above 200 rarely forgive soft overs. One poor passage can undo 8 good ones.

Prince Yadav changes the chase

Prince Yadav returned in the 11th over and hit RCB hard again. He removed Padikkal, who had settled into the chase. In the same over, he also dismissed Jitesh Sharma.

That over shifted the match back towards LSG. It also showed why middle-overs wickets matter so much in T20 cricket.

A chasing side can live with a quiet over. It cannot easily live with two wickets in one over, especially when the required rate is already climbing.

Prince finished with 3 wickets, the best bowling figures for LSG on the night. Shahbaz Ahmed also played a major role, picking up 2 important wickets.

The biggest of those was Tim David. He had raced to 40 from 17 balls and was hitting with serious force. Shahbaz removed him just when RCB were starting to believe again.

He also dismissed Patidar, whose 61 had kept RCB alive. Those two wickets were not just numbers. They removed the two batters who could have finished the chase.

Pant’s last-over call pays off

Even after all that, RCB did not go quietly. Krunal Pandya made 28 from 16 balls. Romario Shepherd added 23 from 15 balls.

Together, they dragged the chase into the final over. RCB needed 20. In modern T20 cricket, that is difficult but not mad.

Pant then made the night’s boldest call. He gave the ball to Digvesh Rathi, a spinner, against Shepherd and Krunal.

Captains often prefer pace in that situation. A yorker, a slower ball, a wide line outside off. Those are familiar final-over plans.

Pant chose a different road. Rathi conceded only 10 runs and closed the match. LSG won by 9 runs, and Pant’s trust looked brave rather than reckless.

This is the kind of moment that lives longer than the scorecard. A young bowler gets the final over. A captain backs him. A dangerous hitter waits. The match turns on nerve.

Playoff maths stays messy

LSG’s win does not put them safely in the playoffs. It only keeps them alive in the familiar IPL zone of calculations, net run rate, and other results.

But that matters. At this stage of the tournament, survival is currency. One win can change the table, the dressing room, and the tone of the next team meeting.

For RCB, the result hurts because they had a clear prize in sight. A win would have strengthened their push for the top spot. Instead, they leave Lucknow with questions.

Their chase had good signs. Patidar looked fluent. Padikkal steadied the innings. Tim David again showed he can change a match in 10 balls.

But the early wickets hurt badly. Kohli’s duck meant RCB lost their main anchor before the chase had settled. Bethell’s early exit made it worse.

In big chases, teams need one batter to bat deep. RCB had several bursts, but no one carried them to the finish.

For LSG, this win had a different flavour. Marsh gave them the headline performance. Prince supplied the middle-overs punch. Rathi handled the final test.

That is a healthy spread of contributions. In a long IPL season, teams do not survive on one superstar alone. They need someone new to stand up every few nights.

LSG now have belief, but they still need results. RCB still have quality, but they have lost a chance to tighten their grip near the top.

For fans, this was the IPL doing what it does best. One rain break, one adjusted target, one blazing hundred, one final over full of tension. And by the end, a tournament table that still refuses to sit quietly.