Nicholas Pooran's explosive fifty powers LSG to a thrilling win against RCB

Sent into bat, Bangalore scored 212/2 with Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell scoring fifties. In reply, Lucknow chased down 213 in 20 overs.

Pooran turned the game on its head after the departure of Marcus Stoinis who unleashed the initial firepower against the hosts. He also made himself proud by scoring the fastest fifty of the season, and it just took 15 balls for him to achieve the milestone.

The fastest fifties were scored by KL Rahul and Pat Cummins against Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, in 14 balls.

Pooran smashed four boundaries and seven maximums in his innings before falling to Mohammad Siraj who had him caught by Shahbaz Ahmed for 62 runs.

Prior to this Marcus Stoinis upped the ante by cracking 65 off 30 balls alongside KL Rahul (18 off 20) after Lucknow suffered early blows. The duo put on 76-run for the third wicket, setting up the chase for batsmen to follow.

Both Stoinis and Rahul were dismissed in quick succession, passing the baton to Pooran.

Ayush Badoni (30 off 24 4x4s) brought Lucknow closer to victory, but was hit wicket off Wayne Parnell when Lucknow needed 7 off 8 balls.

High drama ensued when Lucknow needed 1 run off the last ball. Harshal Patel went through his stride and saw non-striker Ravi Bishnoi was out his crease and tried to Mankad him, but missed.

Harshal threw the ball at the stumps, and Bishnoi was short on his ground, but he was through his bowling action so the run-out did not count, and he was asked to re-ball.

Avesh Khan had a swing at Harshal and missed. Bishnoi ran like a 100m sprinter to get down the other end, but Dinesh Karthik fumbled but somehow gathered the ball and threw it, but by then Avesh completed the winning run.

In ecstacy, he threw his helmet to the ground in celebration. Lucknow had pulled off an absolute thriller.

Siraj gave Bangalore a dream start to the hosts after he cleaned up the dangerous Kyle Mayers for naught in the very first over of the chase.

South African Wayne Parnell then removed Deepak Hooda (9) and Krunal Pandya (0) in the same over to push Lucknow further behind in the contest.

Earlier, belligerent fifties by top three batsmen helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to put on 212/2 on a batting beauty against Lucknow Super Giants at Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.

Bangalore started magnificently, riding high on Virat's power-packed batting in the powerplay. His opening partner Faf du Plessis, on the other hand, was not getting his timing right in the initial stages.

Despite Lucknow not getting any breakthrough, their bowlers did a pretty good job, but then Virat fell to leggie Amit Mishra for 61, which he made in 44 balls with four boundaries and sixes each.

In walked Glenn Maxwell (59 off 29 3x4s 6x6s), and changed the complexion of the match post Virat's departure. Joining the party was Faf, who got his timing back and executed some delightful shots.

Not surprising though, Maxwell and Faf (79 off 46 5x4s 5x6s) hammered 108 runs in the last 7 overs.

Lucknow needed their spinners to check the run flow, but failed to sustain it for long. Mark Wood bowled with pace, and was the only bowler who managed to check the run flow a bit.

Sent into bat, Lucknow's pacer Jaydev Unadkat started on a steady note, but Virat smashed a boundary and a six off Avesh Khan in his first over. He did not stop there, and again peeled off two boundaries off him in his second over too.

The master blaster also did not spare Mark Wood, and took him to the cleaners as Bangalore started strong. Virat belted 42 runs inside Powerplay, the most by any batsman, in an IPL game.

Krunal and Bishnoi were pegged to block Virat and Faf, but they leaked 74 in 8 overs. Soon Virat registered his second fifty of the season, and it came in just 35 balls.

The former Bangalore captain fell to Amit Mishra for 61, but not before taking 13 off Krunal's final over.