Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Lucknow Super Giants, 23rd Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - CommentaryRCB vs LSG, 23rd Match, Indian Premier League 2026 - Commentary

A one-sided encounter at the Chinnaswamy today. LSG are yet to cross the 200-run mark this season and they fell short by a long way today. Their batting hasn't clicked yet in this season. If not for the contributions from the two uncapped players - Mukul and Badoni - they wouldn't have got to 146 either. They'll hope that Pant's injury isn't a serious one. RCB, meanwhile, were absolutely clinical in all three departments. No freebies from the bowlers, outstanding fielding (which included a couple of brilliant catches) and then audacious batting. The defending champions will play their next two matches at home too. They'll be keen to keep their winning streak going. That's it for today. Tune in tomorrow for Mumbai Indians vs Punjab Kings. Until then, goodbye and good night.

Player of the Match awards for RCB in IPL 2026
Jacob Duffy vs SRH
Tim David vs CSK
Phil Salt vs MI
Josh Hazlewood vs LSG
RCB have had ten different players winning POTM awards since 2025 – the most by any team.

Josh Hazlewood | Player of the Match: It's been a bit of a long road the last few months, but yeah, got the rust out, I guess, last game against Rajasthan. Felt much better today and the rhythm feels in good shape. (On hitting the right length) A little bit of everything there. You've got to look at who you're playing against, what players are at the other end and the conditions obviously play a part. It was quite a slow wicket today and it was a little bit up and down, so I just had to whack away that length and get the result. It was an all-round effort today. I thought all the bowlers bowled unbelievable. I'd like to have a few funky deliveries, but as a Test bowler, it's quite hard to bowl good slower balls, always working on them. You always got to keep that into the armoury and keep moving forward. (On his conversations with Bhuvi) I think that's one of our real strengths. Bhuvi in particular, but all around the bowling attack just summing up the conditions as early as we can through conversations and communication on the field, and we go from there and we know what's working. So I think that's a huge plus for us. (On Rasikh Salam Dar) Yeah, he obviously missed the first few games, but he's been selected in the last couple and he's been training the house down. He's got some nice skills, and we've seen that in the last few games. Bowls the hard overs as well. It's a big tournament for Rasikh. Will you play every game from now on?) The plan is to hopefully keep playing. Our schedule is pretty good from here on in, so fingers crossed I can keep playing.

Rajat Patidar | RCB captain: It was fantastic (on the bowling). I think the good thing was we won the toss. And the way the fast bowlers hit the deck was nice to watch. Even I don't know what he's going to bowl next but I would say he's a very courageous bowler (on Krunal Pandya). And at the same time, Suyash's stump-to-stump bowling was tremendous to watch. (On the new-ball pair of Bhuvneshwar and Josh Hazlewood) Of course, for a captain, if you have specialist bowlers in T20 leagues, it makes the job easier because you don't have to tell them what to do next. The experience and ideas are helping all the other bowlers as well. (On RCB's fielding) From the start of the IPL, RCB is working on the fielding intensity. That was followed by (Phil) Salt and he usually takes those one-handed and flying catches. So, it was easier for him. No, it's a long way to go (on the title hopes). Right now, we are just looking one game at a time.

Most consecutive wins for RCB at Chinnaswamy
6 wins bw 2011-12
6 wins in 2013
5 wins bw 2025-26 *

Virat Kohli: "(How did tonight feel?) Much better than the last game. I'm still not 100%. My knee was a bit sore last game. Even health-wise, I've been under the weather for four or five days now. So, just getting back up to my best. I started off well today, so I was happy with my intensity. Again, would have liked to carry on and finish the game off. Sometimes you have to take the conditions into account as well. The pitch slowed down considerably and I just wanted to probably keep going in the same manner. But yeah, in the end, should have probably finished that one off as well. (On the pitch) Yeah, it was slower than normal. If you saw, there was not enough grass on it. The last 3-4 days have been very, very hot. It's been very dry as well. So, we thought it's going to be a dry, slow wicket rather than one of those bare ones that are tacky when we play in Chinnaswamy. So, it was different and hence the idea was to push the game away from the opposition and take the game away from them in the first five-six overs. And for those reasons, the powerplay batting was important and hence I say that I was happy with my approach today. I was able to put the team in front early on. (On Patidar) We have our KPIs as a batting unit and it says Rajat to go in and assess the situation. I always tell him, you're probably looking to assess the bowler's heart rate rather than the situation, like where do these guys stand. I mean, incredible. It's clarity. Also, the way our management has stacked up our team. It allows us to play in a certain way. I have to adapt my roles accordingly. It allows me to play a certain way up front with Salty. So we pass on the baton pretty nicely in this team. And yeah, just the freedom of having Romario and Tim and .. KP hasn't even batted in any games yet. So, we're sitting on a batting unit that's explosive, that's getting the job done. And yeah, it looks pretty intimidating if I was in the opposition as well if you have like Romario and Tim to walk in even after you're five down. These guys can get you 50 runs in four overs. So, that's pretty handy to have and that's giving all of us a lot of freedom. Well, it depends on the situation and the condition as well for me. Not all games are going to be 230, 240. We understand the game's moving forward pretty nicely, that the demands of the modern game are pretty different, but you always have to keep an eye out on the situation and when people play under pressure. We're still in the first half of the tournament. Second half onwards, the games are going to get tighter and people are going to be under pressure a lot more than now. So when the freedom goes away, the pressure kicks in, that's when the smarts of the game have to be applied as well, which I think will put teams in good stead, whoever can apply and adapt and play according to the conditions and the situation will be the teams that will go a long way. But yeah, the game has certainly changed. As I said, I'm trying my best. I think I've done okay so far in adapting. Early on, last two games, as I said, I haven't been at my best, but yeah, I'm always looking to push the bar."

Nic Pooran | Stand-in LSG Captain: It's been a tough season for us, we've been below par with the bat. 175 would've been competitive for us. But it's no secret we have been struggling with the bat the entire season and today we obviously paid the price. It's T20 cricket. It's a tough game. It's a tough game to stay consistent as well. But the guys have been really working hard and credit goes to them. We'll try to fight it out as well. And I just believe it's a matter of time. Just have t stay patient, be ready for when the opportunity comes, and take on the responsibility with it as well. (On his batting) I'm feeling really good and striking the ball nicely. Unfortunately, it hasn't been going my way thus far in the tournament. But it has happened before. I've been in this position already, I know how to fight. And I believe I'll get out of this.

22:48 IST, 17:18 GMT: A thumping win for Royal Challengers Bengaluru who go to the top of the table. They hardly put a foot wrong. Won the toss, opted to field, didn't allow the LSG batters to gain any sort of momentum and bundled them out for 146. In reply, they lost Salt cheaply, but Kohli - RCB's Impact Player - put on a show. Even though there was some movement on offer for the pacers, the star batter countered it beautifully as RCB scored 60 in the powerplay. Kohli missed his fifty by one run but put his team in a great position. Patidar and Jitesh batted aggressively and scored quick 20s. Both of them were dismissed in the same over but that hardly had an effect as the big-hitters - Tim David and Romario Shepherd - applied the finishing touches. It wasn't a typical Chinnaswamy wicket. The pitch was on the slower side but RCB hunted down LSG's 146 with 29 balls to spare.

- 0/51 is the most expensive spell for Digvesh Rathi in IPL