The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered a debilitating 75-run loss against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the MCA Stadium in Pine on Saturday, May 7. After the batters put on a strong score to defend, LSG's bowlers were at their best, picking up wickets at regular intervals and eventually bundling the side for 101 runs only.
Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 runners-up KKR now look set for an early exit with eight points from 11 games. Skipper Shreyas Iyer had no qualms in admitting that his team was completely outplayed in all the departments of the game.
"They outplayed us in bowling and batting. They bowled well in the powerplay, they started well with the bat too. We came back in the middle but they took it away from us at the death. It was hard to read the wicket, so we chose to bowl," he said.
"They got to a really nice total in the end. We (Myself and Brendon McCullum) discuss chasing, we have this conversation every now and then. I have won a lot of tosses, but it would have been good if I lost those tosses. "We found out the ball was stopping and the pitch was two-paced. It was a 155-160 wicket, but they went over that. Baz and I discuss what to do at the toss, it's best to lose tosses, but I've won them. But we have not gotten the basics right. Powerplay and death are the areas to improve, hopefully we can get it right next time," Shreyas added.
KKR started the game on a brilliant note, dismissing skipper KL Rahul for a duck, but their other opener Quinton de Kock stabilised their innings with a brilliant knock of 50 runs even though wickets fell around him. Even Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder smashed crucial runs to set a target of 177.
In response, the two-time IPL champions were pegged back from the very start and although Andre Russell played a 45-run cameo, it was not enough to that his team across the line in a match that almost confirmed their elimination from the playoff race.
