IPL 2023: RCB's hectic away game schedule starts against LSG

Between Monday (1 May) and 18 May, Royal Challengers Bangalore will play five games and all will come on the road. Three of them are scheduled in this week alone with trips to Lucknow, Delhi and Mumbai. The effects of away games – train, play, fly out, train, play, fly on a loop – cannot be quantified. But it surely does take a toll – physically and mentally.

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Royal Challengers Bangalore have played six of their eight matches at home which has meant they’ve not been living out of a suitcase. With assembly elections in Karnataka, RCB have played their home games first and now the packed calendar of away trips begin – starting with Lucknow Super Giants on 1 May.

Sixth on the IPL points table, RCB have blown hot-and-cold and the change in scenery might do well for Bangalore who have relied heavily on the ‘Big 3’. Skipper Faf du Plessis has 422 runs, stand-in captain Virat Kohli has 333 runs and Glenn Maxwell is on 258 runs this season. The next best is Dinesh Karthik on 83 runs.

With bigger grounds to come, it would be a welcome sight for the Bangalore bowling. Likes of Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga would appreciate the chance to bowl at the Ekana stadium which has produced the lowest average first innings score this season (152).

Lucknow Super Giants, meanwhile, come into the home fixture on the back of a stunning 257 run total on a batting bonanza in Mohali. At home, on slow surfaces, they’ve found tough to get going.

While the batting has struggled for LSG, the bowling has been the saving grace. They’ve picked 31 wickets in the four home matches and have the best average (18.50), strike rate (15.90) and economy rate (6.98) for a home side this season.

LSG vs RCB head-to-head

Lucknow Super Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore have met three times since LSG became part of the IPL last season. Of the three meetings, two have been won by RCB and 1 by LSG. RCB batted first in all three matches.

Their meeting this season turned out to be a last-ball thrilling finale at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Faf du Plessis (79), Virat Kohli (61) and Glenn Maxwell (59) were all on the mark to score 212 runs.

In reply, Marcus Stoinis (65) and Nicholas Pooran (62) provided the big scoring with the latter proving decisive in the win.

LSG vs RCB: Form (last five matches)

Lucknow Super Giants: W L W L W

Royal Challengers Bangalore: L W W L W

LSG vs RCB Fixture

LSG vs RCB will be played on 1 May (Monday) at 7:30 PM IST. The match will be played at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

LSG vs RCB TV coverage, live streaming

LSG vs RCB in IPL 2023 will be available on Star Sports Network for TV broadcast. The match will be live streamed on JioCinema app and website if you’re looking to live stream it.

LSG vs RCB Squads:

Lucknow Super Giants squad: KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Ayush Badoni, Naveen-ul-Haq, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Jaydev Unadkat, Manan Vohra, Mark Wood, Quinton de Kock, Krishnappa Gowtham, Swapnil Singh, Prerak Mankad, Daniel Sams, Romario Shepherd, Arpit Guleria, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Karan Sharma

Royal Challengers Bangalore squad: Virat Kohli(c), Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik(w), Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga, David Willey, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Akash Deep, Karn Sharma, Finn Allen, Anuj Rawat, Michael Bracewell, Siddarth Kaul, Sonu Yadav, Manoj Bhandage, Wayne Parnell, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Himanshu Sharma

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