Lucknow Super Giants beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 9 runs in their IPL 2026 match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium. The match was stopped by rain many times, but Australia’s Mitchell Marsh played a fantastic innings, scoring 111 runs from just 56 balls. His new opening partner, Arshin Kulkarni, was struggling to live up to the potential, but that didn’t faze Marsh at all, who produced a one-man show, before Nicholas Pooran joined him in the middle. The West Indies international made 38 runs in 23 balls.
Batting at four, captain Rishabh Pant also showed glimpses of his class, playing a phenomenal knock of unbeaten 32 runs in just 10 balls. He wreaked havoc in the middle, helping Lucknow finish well with the bat. Notably, the keeper-batter had a very rough season with the bat and was under immense security. So much so, his position in the playing XI was under the scanner. However, the LSG captain proved his mettle against RCB, helping his team post 209 runs in 19 overs. In the meantime, the Bengaluru bowlers had a rough time tonight and that is slightly concerning, as both batting and bowling units underperformed in the previous game against Gujarat Titans as well.
Mitchell Marsh’s Century Helps LSG Beat RCB by 9 Runs in Rain-Hit Thriller
Since Royal Challengers Bengaluru had a strong batting lineup this season, they were seen as favourites while chasing the target. But the quick wickets of Jacob Bethell and Virat Kohli changed the game completely. Bethell scored only four runs, while Kohli was dismissed by pacer Prince Yadav, who bowled a superb delivery that hit the top of the off-stump. After they departed, Devdutt Padikkal and captain Rajat Patidar took over the business and stitched a valuable partnership of 95 runs.
That gave RCB some momentum, but once Padikkal departed for 34 runs, wickets fell like a house of cards. Jitesh Sharma once again failed to put up a fight, scoring just one run, while Patidar too departed soon for 61 runs. The pressure then fell on Tim David and Krunal Pandya. The Australia international produced a stunning knock of 40 runs off 17 balls, but failed to win the game for his team.
The pressure then fell on Krunal Pandya and Romario Shepherd, who batted well and put the pressure back on Lucknow, but couldn’t pull it off. Prince Yadav deserves the credit for Lucknow, having claimed three wickets tonight. With that, Lucknow registered their third win of the season and remain alive in the playoffs race. Bengaluru, on the other hand, suffer back-to-back defeats now. Interestingly, Punjab also lost consecutive games after a stunning start, same as RCB.