It was the 5th time that Faf du Plessis reached the 90s in the IPL but again he fell short of a maiden century, falling for 96.  But it was enough to give Royal Challengers Bangalore 181/6, a score above par for the ground. When they came in to bowl, Josh Hazlewood posted his best IPL figures, taking 4 for 25 and toppling Lucknow SuperGiants, one of the new franchises  this year, in a race to the spot just below the top.  With 10 points from 7 matches they are below Gujrat Titans who have 10 from 6 matches.  LSG with 7 matches are with 8 points, in mid-table. 96 was enough Faf’s 96 meant that the rest of the team collected roughly what he did alone but it was enough in the end.  RCB lost 3 wickets in the power play. Losing 2 is considered “safe“ but 3 is dicey and 4 is bad news. So the match wasn’t all done when RCB finished batting and LSG –with equal points on the table- began their chase. Earlier RCB’s deity Virat Kohli failed to score once again, getting an embarrassing 0. His rather longish run of bad form is troubling for the fans if not for him. True, it really doesn’t matter for his career but VK scoring is one reason why many tune in to watch IPL. Read: 2023 ICC Test Championship: Best batting and bowling performances thus far LSG is a new IPL entrant and has been doing fine but against RCB, they seemed to lack a winning drive or couldn’t put it together. They lost the advantage by not getting many runs in the power play but after that too, they didn’t pick up steam. Captain Rahul’s dismissal at 30 seemed to shake them even more as he appeared to be getting ready to launch himself for a game changing innings. After him LSG shrank even further.  LSG seemed to lack the fire and brimstone most teams have shown this IPL season. Krunal got a lonely 42.    The game was never really out of reach of LSG till the end over as teams have scored 24+ in an over several times but it was not to be by LSG this evening.  Holder did get 2 sixes in the last over but by then the match was over and even he got out off the 4th ball.  It was an odd match to watch where two teams seemed to be weighed down by the heat or something. RCB was more nimble and Faf had a fine evening though one wishes he makes it to 100 the next time.  And Hazelwood put on the finishing touches to beat LSG. Read: Should Test captain Mominul be 'chilling' after South Africa tour? Kolkata Knight Riders news Bangladesh has a large base of KKR fans but the team which began with much promise isn’t doing too well. It is in the 6th spot in a table of 10 and has 6 points after playing 7 matches. Only RCB has played that many and they have 10 points. But KKR aren’t as bad as Mumbai Indians, who after 6 matches are still on zero points.