Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s six-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants at the BRSABV Ekana Stadium in Lucknow meant they maintained their unbeaten streak away from home and finished the league stage with a win.
RCB had to play harder in the middle after choosing to bowl first. At the end of their 20 overs, LSG score 227/3 thanks to a brilliant century from Rishabh Pant (118* off 63) and a quick half-century from Mitchell Marsh (67* off 37). RCB got off to a good start, but their success percentage in chasing scores above 200 was only 20%. Virat Kohli’s (54 off 30) and Jitesh Sharma’s (85* off 33) crucial knocks guaranteed that RCB won the match and placed second in the points.
RCB had won seven straight road games. This season, they have been the first team to win every game they had planned and designated away.
In addition, RCB will have 9 away victories if they win their next two games (assuming they win both the Qualifier 1 and Final). This will tie the record set by the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012, which was nine away victories.
“I had the responsibility of maintaining his record” – Jitesh Sharma on RCB’s unbeaten away streak
Jitesh Sharma told the commentators after the game that he had the duty of continuing the away win run as a stand-in skipper in Rajat Patidar’s absence. According to ESPN Cricinfo, he stated:
“I will not be able to express my thoughts! I can’t believe I played that knock. When Virat bhai was out, I was just thinking of taking it deep. As my mentor and guru Dinesh [Karthik] anna says, just take it deep. I was getting cramps because all the load was on me! I have Virat bhai, Krunal bhai and Bhuvi bhai with me. I feel excited that I’m playing with them.”
Jitesh Sharma
“We want to enjoy the moment. But we’ll try to recover well. We’ll look to carry the momentum into the next match. Credit goes to Rajat. I had the responsibility of maintaining his record. Hazlewood will perhaps play in the knockout. We have a strong belief system. We have match winners. Look at our playing XI, and we have match winners.”
Jitesh Sharma
RCB’s second-place finish on May 29 qualifies them for Qualifier 1. They will meet the Punjab Kings, with the the winner going to the final.
