Navi Mumbai, April 20 (TIWN): A fine knock by Faf du Plessis (96 off 64) followed by a sensational bowling effort by Josh Hazlewood (4/25) led Royal Challengers Bangalore to a hard-fought 18-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in an IPL 2022 match at the D.Y. Patil Stadium, here on Tuesday.

It was RCB’s fifth win in the ongoing IPL season and they jumped up to the second spot on the table with 10 points.  Leading from the front, skipper du Plessis played a terrific knock (96 off 64) and steered Royal Challengers Bangalore to 181-6 in 20 overs. Invited to bat first, RCB were off to a terrible start as they lost three wickets — Anuj Rawat (4), Virat Kohli (0) and Glenn Maxwell (23) inside the powerplay. At 44/3 after 5.2 overs, RCB were in a spot of bother but du Plessis took on the mantle of batting through the innings.  He anchored the innings to perfection by stitching together a crucial 70-run stand for the fifth wicket with Shahbaz Ahmed (26) and a 49-run partnership with Dinesh Karthik (13 not out off 8) for the sixth wicket, helping RCB post a competitive total. He was out on the penultimate ball of the final over.