With figures of 3/14 in four overs, Mayank Yadav left a trail of destruction in his wake at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium with our boys defeating the Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 28 runs on Tuesday.

RCB’s much-famed batting lineup, including the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green, found itself wanting against the sheer pace and accuracy of Mayank Yadav, who broke the back of the RCB’s run-chase and helped us bundle them out for 153.

Earlier in the day, we rode on the stellar performances of Quinton de Kock and Nicholas Pooran to set a challenging target of 181/5. De Kock's 81 laid the foundation at the top while Pooran's quickfire 40 provided a strong finish.

With two wins and a loss from three games, we are currently fourth on the IPL 2024 points table with four points. This victory also helped us boost the net run rate and take it to 0.483.

QDK on a roll with another sublime fifty 

Quinton de Kock set the stage with three boundaries in the first over off Reece Topley. He then smashed back-to-back sixes off Mohammed Siraj in the third over to get us off to a flier.

A couple of neat strikes by KL Rahul over the ropes added fuel to the blazing start and our score rocketed past 50 inside six overs.

Dismissals of KL and Devdutt Padikkal momentarily slowed down our run rate, reducing us to 73/2 in nine overs. 

Yet, de Kock, who also scored a 50 against Punjab Kings in the previous match, combined with Marcus Stoinis and refused to let the momentum slip away. The duo put on a rapid 56-run partnership to reignite the scoring rate.

Stoinis was out after playing a handy knock of 24 in 15 balls but QDK motored along at the other end. During the course of his innings, de Kock reached the milestone of 3000 runs in the IPL. He was dismissed in the 17th over by Reece Topley while trying to up the ante but his 81 off 56, including eight fours and five sixes, laid the groundwork for Nicholas Pooran’s late flurry.

Pooran then unleashed an onslaught in the last two overs, sending the ball sailing over the boundary ropes five times. His unbeaten 40 off 21 took our total to an imposing 181/5.

Mayank brings fire to RCB

RCB started their chase with Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis putting on a solid 40-run opening partnership. 

However, Manimaran Siddharth kept attacking the Indian batting great and got him out for his first wicket in the IPL. 

From there onwards, Mayank Yadav rained fire on the RCB batters.

While intimidating Australian batsmen with sheer pace is a formidable challenge, Yadav's thunderous deliveries proved insurmountable even for the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green.

Maxwell was found wanting on a searing short ball and all he could do was top edge the ball to mid-on in the sixth over. Green was the next to fall in the eighth over.

Yadav clocked the fastest ball of IPL 2024 at 156.7 kph on the first ball of the over. On the fourth ball, Yadav rammed into the top of the off stump and made the Australian look clueless with his feet grounded at the leg stump.

From 40/0, RCB were down to 58/4. While RCB struggled to find their footing against Yadav's fiery pace, Stoinis, Naveen-ul-Haq and Bishnoi prevented RCB from breaking free and ensured the required run rate continued to soar steadily.

Rajat Patidar (29 off 21) tried his best to jumpstart RCB’s chase but had no answer to Yadav’s short ball in the 15th over. Mahipal Lomror’s 33 off 13 gave us a scare for a brief phase but once he was back to the pavilion in the 18th over, the rest of the match proved to be a stroll and we clinched the two points comfortably. 

Yadav, who also clinched three wickets against Punjab Kings in the previous match, joined the likes of Lasith Malinga and Jofra Archer in the list of bowlers to pick up three wickets in their first two matches of the IPL.

What next for the Super Giants?

We will head back to Lucknow and prepare for our home game against the formidable Gujarat Titans at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on April 7. 

Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 181/5 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 81; Glenn Maxwell 2/23) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 153/10 in 19.4 overs (Mahipal Lomror 33, Mayank Yadav 3/14) by 28 runs.