Marsh ton keeps LSG playoff hopes alive after RCB scare

A chase of 213 in 19 overs usually needs fireworks. But for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the night began with two quiet walks back.

Virat Kohli fell for 0. Jacob Bethell made 4. And suddenly, the defending champions were not chasing a target. They were chasing the match itself.

Lucknow Super Giants held their nerve at home and beat RCB by 9 runs in IPL 2026. The win kept LSG alive in the playoff race, though still inside the familiar IPL maze of net run rate and other results.

Marsh gives Lucknow early control

Mitchell Marsh played the innings that made everything possible for Lucknow. He smashed 111 off 56 balls, with 9 fours and 9 sixes.

That is not just a big score. That is a batter taking ownership of a must-win night.

Marsh and Arshin Kulkarni opened with a 95-run stand. Kulkarni made only 17 off 24, but his role was simple. He stayed long enough for Marsh to break the game open.

Nicholas Pooran then added 38 off 23 balls. Rishabh Pant finished with a sharp unbeaten 32 off just 10 balls. He hit 4 fours and 2 sixes, striking at 320.

LSG ended at 209 for 3 in 19 overs. Rain had cut the match to 19 overs a side. Under the Duckworth Lewis method, RCB needed 213.

That method adjusts targets in rain-hit games. In simple terms, it asks what a fair chase should be after overs are lost.

RCB lose their big names early

RCB needed a clean start. They got the opposite.

Mohammed Shami removed Jacob Bethell in the first over. Prince Yadav then dismissed Virat Kohli for a duck in the second over.

Those two wickets changed the feel of the chase. A target that already looked steep became heavier.

For RCB fans, Kohli’s early wicket still lands differently. Even in a packed batting line-up, his presence settles a chase. Without him, the next pair had to rebuild and attack together.

Devdutt Padikkal and captain Rajat Patidar did exactly that for a while. They added 95 runs for the third wicket off 53 balls.

Padikkal made 35 off 25. Patidar hit 61 off 31. Their partnership pulled RCB back into the contest.

At that point, Lucknow needed a wicket, not just a tidy over. Prince Yadav gave them 2.

Prince Yadav changes the chase

Prince Yadav returned in the 11th over and tilted the match. He removed Padikkal, who had started to settle.

In the same over, he also dismissed Jitesh Sharma. That double blow slowed RCB at a crucial point.

This is where T20 matches often slip away quietly. Not with one dramatic collapse, but with one over that changes every calculation.

RCB still had Patidar, and he kept swinging. But Shahbaz Ahmed cut short his innings at 61. That wicket removed RCB’s main engine.

Shahbaz then struck again by removing Tim David for 40 off 17. David’s wicket mattered because he could clear any ground in the final overs.

Lucknow’s bowling figures told the story. Prince Yadav took 3 wickets. Shahbaz Ahmed took 2. Shami took 1 and set the tone early.

The scorecard will remember Marsh’s century first. But in a chase of 213, bowlers win matches by taking wickets at ugly moments.

Prince did that. Shahbaz did that. Shami gave Lucknow the first opening.

Pant backs Rathi at the death

The last over still had drama left. RCB needed 20 runs, with Krunal Pandya and Romario Shepherd at the crease.

Krunal had made 28 off 16. Shepherd was on 23 off 15. Both could hit sixes, and LSG knew it.

Pant then made the call that will be talked about in the dressing room. He handed the ball to Digvesh Rathi.

It was a bold move because Shepherd can punish spin late in a chase. One loose ball could have made the target very small.

Rathi gave away only 10 runs. He did not chase magic. He chased control.

That final over showed why captaincy in T20 is not only about plans. It is also about reading pressure. Pant trusted the bowler who could hold his shape.

For a team fighting to stay alive, that matters. Lucknow needed calm, not noise. Rathi gave them exactly that.

Defending champions miss top spot

RCB’s defeat also cost them a chance to move to No. 1. For defending champions, these are the small moments that shape a season.

A 9-run defeat in May can hurt badly in playoff week. Net run rate, points, and momentum all start talking at once.

RCB will not panic from one loss. Patidar’s 61 and David’s 40 showed enough batting strength. Krunal and Shepherd also kept the chase alive at the end.

But the early wickets will worry them. In big chases, teams can survive one top-order failure. Losing two in the first 2 overs leaves too much repair work.

For Lucknow, the win keeps hope alive. The phrase sounds simple, but IPL teams live on it. A single win can change a dressing room’s mood overnight.

Marsh gave them a headline innings. Prince Yadav gave them the middle-over bite. Rathi gave them the final-over nerve.

That combination is what every side searches for in a tight season. One senior batter, one wicket-taking bowler, and one brave late call.

For ordinary fans, this is why the IPL remains addictive. A rain-shortened match, a strange target, a duck for a superstar, a young bowler under pressure, and a result that keeps calculators busy.

Lucknow still need other results to go their way. RCB still have the quality to finish high. But on this night, LSG showed the one thing every playoff race demands first. They refused to disappear.