Marsh century keeps LSG alive as RCB miss top spot

Twenty runs from the last over sounds chaseable in modern IPL cricket. Especially when Romario Shepherd stands there, shoulders loose, bat swinging hard.

But Lucknow Super Giants found a nerve at home on Wednesday night. Captain Rishabh Pant handed the ball to Digvesh Rathi, and the leg-spinner gave away only 10.

That final over sealed a 9-run win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru. More than that, it kept LSG breathing in IPL 2026, while RCB missed a clean chance to climb to No. 1.

Marsh turns pressure into power

LSG batted first in a rain-shortened 19-over game and reached 209 for 3. Under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern rules, RCB’s target became 213.

The innings belonged to Mitchell Marsh. He smashed 111 from 56 balls, with 9 fours and 9 sixes. That is not a knock. That is a full takeover.

Marsh and Arshin Kulkarni gave LSG a calm but useful start. Their 95-run opening stand gave the middle order room to attack.

Kulkarni made 17 from 24 balls, which looks slow on paper. But it allowed Marsh to settle, read the pitch, and then punish anything loose.

Nicholas Pooran then added 38 from 23 balls. Pant finished with a sharp 32 not out from just 10 balls, striking at 320.

That late burst mattered. In a 19-over match, 10 balls can change the whole night. Pant’s cameo did exactly that.

RCB’s bowlers had little to celebrate. Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya and Rasikh Salam took 1 wicket each. But nobody truly stopped the flow.

RCB stumble before the chase starts

A chase of 213 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.

That was the first real turn in the match. RCB were not just 2 down early. They had lost rhythm, time, and their biggest chase-setter.

In this format, one quiet over can hurt. Two early wickets can push a batting side into a strange place.

They cannot block, because the required rate keeps rising. They cannot swing blindly, because one more wicket opens the lower middle order too soon.

That is why those first 12 balls mattered so much. LSG did not win the match there, but they made RCB chase under stress.

Patidar keeps RCB alive

Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal then repaired the innings. Their 95-run stand came from 53 balls and brought RCB back into the match.

Patidar played the captain’s hand. He scored 61 from 31 balls, a proper counterattack under scoreboard pressure.

Padikkal made 35 from 25 balls. It was not explosive, but it gave Patidar a partner and gave RCB a platform.

Then Prince Yadav returned and changed the mood again. He removed Padikkal in the 11th over and also dismissed Jitesh Sharma.

That double strike hurt RCB badly. A chase that had started looking possible suddenly needed another rebuild.

Shahbaz Ahmed then removed Patidar. Later, he also got Tim David, who had raced to 40 from 17 balls.

David’s wicket was massive. He had the power to reduce the equation in 6 hits. Once he fell, LSG could breathe again.

Prince finished as LSG’s best bowler with 3 wickets. Shahbaz took 2, while Shami picked up the early breakthrough.

Pant’s bold final call pays off

The match still refused to end quietly. Krunal Pandya made 28 from 16 balls. Shepherd added 23 from 15.

Together, they dragged RCB into the final over. They needed 20, which is no longer a crazy number in the IPL.

This is where Pant made the call captains are judged on. He gave the ball to Digvesh Rathi with Shepherd on strike.

Many captains would have gone safer. Pant trusted the spinner to hold his nerve, vary pace, and keep the ball away from the hitting arc.

Rathi did not panic. He gave away only 10 runs and closed the game with surprising control.

For LSG, that over carried more than 6 balls. It kept their playoff hopes alive, even if the road still depends on other results.

For RCB, the defeat stung twice. They lost a match they nearly pulled back, and they missed the chance to move to the top.

That is the IPL’s old lesson. A brilliant chase can still collapse because of 1 over, 1 wicket, or 1 brave call.

Playoff race gets tighter

LSG will look at this result as proof that their season still has a pulse. Marsh gave them the headline performance, but the bowlers gave them belief.

Prince Yadav’s spell will please the team management. Young Indian bowlers who can strike in pressure overs are gold in this league.

Shami’s early wicket also showed the value of experience. Even one opening burst can make a 213 chase feel much bigger.

RCB will not panic, but they will know what slipped away. Their middle order fought hard, yet the early damage proved expensive.

Kohli’s duck will draw attention, as it always does. But RCB’s bigger worry is control with the ball after a strong opposition start.

They allowed Marsh to turn a good innings into a match-shaping century. Against serious playoff contenders, that margin can decide qualification.

For fans, this was a classic late-season IPL scrap. One side fighting to stay alive, the other chasing table position, both refusing to blink.

LSG now live in “if”. If they win, if others lose, if net run rate helps. That is a stressful place, but it is better than being out.

RCB still have quality across the XI. But nights like this remind teams that points tables do not reward reputation.

They reward sharper moments. Marsh’s clean hitting, Prince’s middle-over strikes, Shahbaz’s key wickets, and Rathi’s final-over nerve made the difference.

For ordinary fans watching at home, this is why the IPL keeps pulling people back. The match looked done, then open, then done again.

LSG survived by 9 runs, but the meaning was larger. Their season is still alive, and RCB have learned that the climb to No. 1 can be slippery.