RCB may have beaten the Lucknow Super Giants in both games last year with the second of them coming in IPL 2022 Eliminator but LSG entered Bengaluru with vengeance on their mind this time around.
KL Rahul's men beat RCB in a high-scoring thriller by just 1 wicket to claim their 3rd win in 4 games.
In a game which had almost everything - a vintage Virat Kohli, Stoinis' power game, Pooran's blitz, last-ball mankading attempt -Lucknow chased down the 4th highest target in IPL history, claiming the game by a wicket.
Put into bat first, captain Faf du Plessis, Kohli and Glenn Maxwell struck blistering half-centuries to power RCB to an imposing 212 for two.
While chasing, Lucknow seemed to be down and out after losing three quick wickets in the powerplay, thanks to Parnell and Siraj's superb bowling.
Also read: IPL 2023, DC vs MI preview: A battle to stay afloat, who will emerge victorious?
But then Bengaluru was struck by Stoinis' storm, who turned the game on its head by smashing RCB bowlers all round the park.
His 30-ball 65 gave Lucknow, the much-needed momentum and Pooran capitalised on it as nobody can.
The West Indian southpaw took RCB spinners to cleaner before launching a brutal attack on the pacer, slamming 62 runs off just 19 balls.
Though Pooran's wicket after a mind-blowing power-hitting did give Bangalore a chance to make a comeback, Ayush Badoni ensured LSG did get close to the target.
And in the end, the tailenders did the job for LSG after Harshal missed a chance to run out Ravi Bishnoi at the non-striker's end.