Marsh century keeps LSG alive as RCB miss top spot

Twenty runs in the last over can make even calm captains look restless. Rishabh Pant had another idea.

With Romario Shepherd still in the chase and Royal Challengers Bengaluru hunting down 213, Pant threw the ball to Digvesh Rathi. A spinner, under lights, with a wet ball and a power-hitter waiting. It was brave. It also worked.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru fell 9 runs short in Lucknow, finishing on 203 for 6 in 19 overs. Lucknow Super Giants stayed alive in IPL 2026, at least on paper, and RCB missed a chance to move to the top.

Marsh turns Lucknow into launchpad

Mitchell Marsh gave Lucknow the kind of innings teams dream about in May. He made 111 off 56 balls, with 9 fours and 9 sixes, and dragged the match into LSG’s preferred zone.

This was not just clean hitting. It was scoreboard control. Marsh and Arshin Kulkarni added 95 for the first wicket, giving Lucknow a base without panic.

Kulkarni made 17 off 24 balls, which looks slow beside Marsh’s fireworks. But in a rain-shortened 19-over match, even one stable end can help a hitter breathe.

Marsh did the heavy lifting. He punished anything full, climbed into width, and made RCB’s bowlers search for safer areas. On a night like that, there were not many.

Nicholas Pooran then did what he has done often in franchise cricket. He arrived, assessed the tempo quickly, and made 38 off 23 balls. His 4 fours and 1 six kept Lucknow from losing speed after the opening stand broke.

Then came Rishabh Pant, and the innings changed gear again. His unbeaten 32 off 10 balls came at a strike rate of 320. That is not a scorecard detail. That is an assault.

By the end, LSG had reached 209 for 3 in 19 overs. Because rain had interrupted the match, RCB’s target under the Duckworth Lewis method became 213.

That rule often confuses casual fans. In simple terms, it adjusts the chase after rain based on overs and wickets. On Wednesday night, it made RCB’s task just a little steeper.

RCB stumble before the chase settles

A 213 target in 19 overs needs a clean start. RCB got the opposite.

Mohammed Shami removed Jacob Bethell for 4 in the first over. Prince Yadav then struck in the second over, sending Virat Kohli back for a duck.

Those 2 wickets changed the mood. RCB still had batting, but they had lost their calm. In a chase above 11 runs an over, every quiet ball starts to feel expensive.

Devdutt Padikkal and captain Rajat Patidar then brought RCB back. They added 95 runs in 53 balls for the third wicket, and for a while, Lucknow’s earlier total looked reachable.

Padikkal made 35 off 25 balls. Patidar was sharper, hitting 61 off 31 balls. His innings carried the authority RCB needed after losing Kohli early.

Patidar’s half-century mattered for another reason. Captains in big chases cannot only manage fields and bowlers. They must also absorb the pressure with the bat. For 31 balls, he did exactly that.

But T20 chases are cruel. They do not reward recovery unless someone finishes the job.

Prince Yadav changes the rhythm

Prince Yadav’s spell decided the middle of the chase. He removed Kohli early, then returned when RCB had rebuilt through Padikkal and Patidar.

In the 11th over, he dismissed Padikkal. In the same over, he also got Jitesh Sharma. That double blow cut through RCB’s batting order at the worst possible time.

His figures told the story: 3 wickets, each one placed at a different pressure point. One at the start, 2 when RCB looked steady.

This is where selection rooms take notes. A bowler who can strike with the new ball and then return in the middle overs gives a captain options. In a long tournament, that matters more than one flashy over.

Shahbaz Ahmed also played a key role. He removed Patidar, who had become the centre of the chase. He later dismissed Tim David for 40 off 17 balls.

That wicket was massive. David had started to do what finishers do, turn equations into fear. With him in, RCB had enough power to win from ugly positions.

Once Shahbaz got him, LSG could breathe again. Not fully, but enough.

Pant’s last-over call pays off

The final over began with RCB needing 20. Krunal Pandya was on 28 off 16 balls. Romario Shepherd was on 23 off 15 balls. Both could hit straight, and both knew the ground well enough by then.

Pant chose Digvesh Rathi for the last over. It was a call that carried obvious risk. If Shepherd had connected with 2 clean hits, everyone would have questioned it.

Rathi gave away only 10 runs. He did not try to be clever every ball. He kept his nerve, forced the batters to create pace, and made them hit where Lucknow had cover.

That is the quiet skill in death bowling. Fans remember yorkers and slower balls. Captains value bowlers who can still think when the match is shouting at them.

RCB ended at 203 for 6. A match they had almost rebuilt slipped away by 9 runs. For the defending champions, this defeat also meant they lost the chance to grab the No. 1 position.

For Lucknow, the win did not solve everything. Their playoff hopes still depend on other results and their own remaining games. But in a tight table, survival has value.

What this result really means

For RCB, this was a warning wrapped inside a narrow defeat. Their middle order showed fight, Patidar made runs, and Tim David nearly tilted the chase. Yet losing Kohli for 0 and Bethell for 4 left too much repair work.

In a tournament like the IPL, the difference between first and fourth can come down to nights like this. One bad powerplay. One brave bowling change. One over where a hitter misses by inches.

For LSG, Marsh’s century gives them a headline. Prince Yadav gives them a selection boost. Rathi gives Pant trust for tougher overs ahead.

But the larger lesson is simpler. T20 is often sold as a batter’s game, and Marsh certainly gave it that shine. Still, Lucknow won because bowlers held their nerve after the fireworks.

A kirana store owner watching the final over after closing shop, or a young fan following the score on a phone, would understand the feeling. Some wins do not announce a team as favourites. They only say one thing clearly: the story is not over yet.