New entrants LSG extended their rampage in this edition of the Indian Premier League to four games in a row, running riot over the KKR to take their points tally to 16, basically guaranteeing themselves a place in the top four, and could now possibly push for a top-two finish.
It was yet another case of a batting failure from the Knight Riders, who conceded 176 in the first innings, before struggling with the bat and relying on a single-handed effort from Andre Russell, but still lost by a huge margin of 75 runs, giving themselves a huge hitt in terms of net run rate. It was an excellent performance from both the Lucknow bowling and batting departments, as they registered a dominant victory over the two-time champs.
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and decided to bowl first, as he opted for the conventional choice. Disaster struck in the very first over for the Lucknow franchise, as skipper KL Rahul was run-out without facing a single delivery. Nevertheless, Quinton de Kock looked in spectacular form as he and Deepak Hooda built up the innings after Rahul’s dismissal. De Kock was imperious in his approach, as he took on the pacers and spinners to equal effect, clearing the boundary and picking the gaps to perfection.
Hooda, although he took the backseat when de Kock was batting, played a fantastic innings. He was composed in the pressure situations, and then took on the bowling himself after de Kock’s dismissal, until he was dismissed in the 13th over himself.
The innings took a downturn from that moment forward, but Shivam Mavi’s 19th over, which went for five sixes, turned the tide back in favour of the Super Giants, who finished on 176/7 after 20 overs.
Kolkata never looked like they could even come close to the target, as their batting order did not possess the confidence to pull off a chase which has now become increasingly easy in modern-day T20 cricket. However, credit must be given to the bowlers, who did an excellent job of bowling at the top, as both Dushmantha Chameera and Mohsin Khan bowled beautifully.
The duo struck twice and the rest of the bowlers kept the run rate as low as possible. The subsequent batsmen also cracked under the pressure imposed by the LSG bowlers, before Russell and Rinku Singh joined hands in the middle.
Russell was in outstanding form, as he came in and starting scoring boundaries and sixes for fun. A lucky boundary over the wicketkeeper’s head early on in his innings off Khan was the trigger for Russell to absolutely clobber the ball to all parts of the park.
Singh was dismissed as he went for a false shot instead of supporting Russell in the middle. The former’s dismissal was immediately followed by the fall of the latter, as Kolkata’s hopes came to a massive low.
KKR were eventually scuttled by the opposition, setting up a huge 75-run victory, as they made their chances of a top-two finish all the more probable.
Brief scores
Lucknow Super Giants 176 for 7 (de Kock 50, Hooda 41, Russell 2-22) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 101 (Russell 45, Avesh 3-19, Holder 3-31) by 75 runs
