Match overview
Lucknow Super Giants beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 28 runs at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on 2 April 2024. Batting first after RCB won the toss and chose to field, LSG posted 181/5. Royal Challengers Bangalore's chase never recovered from a disastrous powerplay: 48/3 after six overs left them chasing the total with too few wickets in hand. They were eventually bowled out for 153. MP Yadav was named Player of the Match. The result moved LSG to two wins from their opening fixtures in the 2024 IPL season, while RCB's mixed start continued after earlier losses to Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings.
The contest was effectively settled inside the first ten overs of RCB's chase. Having conceded 54 runs and lost only one wicket in their own powerplay, Lucknow's bowlers then removed three RCB batters before the seventh over began. From that point, the home side needed an unlikely recovery, and it did not materialise. The middle-overs phase produced 56/3 for RCB and 49/4 in the death, leaving them 28 short at the close.
Venue and conditions
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is widely regarded as one of the more batter-friendly venues in the IPL, but the numbers across 142 matches tell a more nuanced story. The average first-innings score is 196, which is high, but the average second-innings score drops to 177. Teams fielding first and chasing have succeeded 55% of the time, barely above even. RCB's toss decision to bowl first was consistent with the venue's trend: 76% of toss winners at Chinnaswamy choose to field.
The powerplay is where this ground consistently shapes outcomes. The venue average of 43 powerplay runs means LSG's 54/1 in that phase was meaningfully above par, providing a foundation that allowed them to build through the middle overs (77/2 between overs 7 and 15) and a solid death spell of 50/2. RCB's 48/3 in the powerplay, below the venue average in runs and catastrophically ahead of it in wickets, ended the contest as a contest.
The Chinnaswamy surface tends to carry true early in the innings and can quicken under lights as the evening dew settles. Seamers who hit the pitch hard at the top of the order have historically caused problems here, and the second innings demonstrated that pattern again.
How to watch
IPL matches are broadcast in the UK on Sky Sports Cricket, with live streaming available through Sky Go and NOW TV for subscribers. Most evening fixtures in India (starting at 19:30 IST) begin at approximately 14:00 BST, while afternoon matches (15:30 IST start) kick off around 11:00 BST. Check the Sky Sports listings for confirmed UK broadcast times for upcoming LSG and RCB fixtures.
Recent form
Heading into this fixture, Lucknow Super Giants carried a one-from-two record in the 2024 IPL season. Their win against Punjab Kings had come immediately before this match, and their single defeat was against Rajasthan Royals. Cast the net slightly further back and LSG had also won two of their final three games of the 2023 campaign, against Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.
Royal Challengers Bangalore arrived at their home ground under pressure from their own schedule. A defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders and a loss to Chennai Super Kings had preceded this match, offset only by a win over Punjab Kings. Their 2023 season had closed with a loss to Gujarat Titans, though they had beaten Sunrisers Hyderabad before that. Three defeats in five coming into this fixture made the toss-and-bowl decision a calculated one. It did not pay off. The next meeting between these two sides will be worth watching with the head-to-head gap now at four wins to two in RCB's favour, and Lucknow having now won at Chinnaswamy in two of their last three visits to the ground.
