IPL 2026 | Match 23: RCB vs LSG | Preview and Predictions
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) host the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Match 23, with the IPL 2026 league table slowly beginning to take shape. RCB are looking to move into the top two spots, while LSG are struggling to find consistency.
For the game, here we present our preview and predictions.
Indian Premier League 2026 | Match 23: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Lucknow Super Giants | 19:30 IST, April 15, 2026
The Royal Challengers come into this game after a shaky win over the Mumbai Indians, with some questions raised about their bowling. Their seamers have been leaking runs. RCB brought in Jacob Duffy for Josh Hazlewood, and Duffy went at 14.5 runs per over in his four-over spell, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar went at nearly ten an over, and Romario Shepherd has been expensive as well. It’s been the spinners doing the job mainly for the reigning champions, who need to find wickets early on and will hope Hazlewood and Kumar provide them soon enough.
On the other hand, batting is slowly beginning to look near-perfect for RCB, especially with Phil Salt finding form and runs in the last game. Salt was the only one in their top six without a substantial score going into the MI game, but he smashed his way back into some form. Captain Rajat Patidar has been the star batter for RCB, having been in sublime form throughout the season. With the likes of Tim David and Shepherd coming in late down the order, RCB have depth and explosive firepower in the back end of an innings as well. Their star veteran batter Virat Kohli had a small injury scare in their previous game, and RCB will hope that the former Indian skipper is back soon.
The Super Giants, meanwhile, are struggling with both bat and ball and had a disappointing showing last time around at home against the Gujarat Titans.
Their batting unit is yet to fire, with the dangerous top four of Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant, and Nicholas Pooran all struggling for form. Given how much LSG depend on their experienced top four, captain Pant will hope for more from his top order, especially given how thin and inexperienced the lower order is.
With the ball, barring Mohammed Shami, LSG haven’t been very impressive. Indian seamers Prince Yadav and Avesh Khan have been expensive and have been conceding a lot of runs. Digvesh Rathi has been the only spinner who has looked threatening, and Pant knows that he doesn’t have a very deep bowling line-up and will need his batters to bail the team out more often than not.
Bengaluru has been a batter’s paradise, and given the ground dimensions, this is a venue where one should always expect high scores.
Based on current form and their squad depth and balance, the hosts are our clear favourites to win this encounter.
Fantasy XI: Mitchell Marsh, Virat Kohli (c), Aiden Markram, Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ayush Badoni, Tim David (vc), Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Shami
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Winners Prediction: Royal Challengers Bengaluru
