Rinku Singh once again kept Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) fans on the edge of their seats with a last-over thriller. Even with 21 runs to defend in the final over, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) players and dugout were nervous as a rampant Rinku was in the middle. However, in the end a win was just slightly away from KKR’s grasp as they lost to LSG by just one run at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. On the other hand, with their eighth win of the season, LSG booked their spot in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 playoffs. They have qualified for the eliminator and will face either Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) or Mumbai Indians (MI) in the high voltage clash.
In the run chase of 177, Venkatesh Iyer started off in style with two fours and a six off Mohsin Khan. Naveen-ul-Haq took a beating too as Jason Roy hit him for two fours and a six. Roy continued to fire and hit LSG skipper Krunal Pandya for three consecutive fours in the fifth over. Krishnappa Gowtham got the breakthrough with the wicket of Iyer. He got caught at covers by Ravi Bishnoi. The southpaw scored 24 runs from 15 balls including three fours and a six. After powerplay overs, KKR had 61/1 on the board.
In the ninth over, Pandya introduced Bishnoi into the attack. Rana went for the cut shot but the leading edge was caught by Pandya. Rana scored just eight runs from 10 balls and became Bishnoi's 100th T20 wicket. In the next over, Roy departed as well. He missed the line of the ball and got bowled. Pandya got the big wicket. The Englishman scored 45 runs from 28 deliveries including seven fours and a six. KKR had 82/3 on the board after 10 overs.
Rinku got an early reprieve as he got dropped By Bishnoi off his own bowling in 13th over. Yash Thakur was introduced into the attack and he got the wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz who was demoted down the order. Gurbaz went for the expansive drive and lost his wicket. The Afghan wicketkeeper-batter scored just 10 runs from 15 balls. Andre Russell joined Rinku in the middle. Russell smashed Bishnoi for a six but got out to a fuller delivery next ball. Naveen bowled a good over as KKR needed 51 runs from 18 balls. Rinku hit Thakur for a six to release pressure. But he did not get support from other end. Shardul Thakur went for a pull shot and got caught at deep square leg. On the last ball of the over Narine got run out.
In the penultimate over, Naveen went for plenty. Rinku started off with three fours in a row. He hit the fifth ball for a massive 110 metre six. Naveen conceded 20 runs off his last over. 21 runs were needed in the final over. Arora did his job by taking a single first ball. Thakur followed it up with a wide. Thakur took the pace off and Rinku missed it. Next ball, he hit the ball in the gap but denied single. Thakur erred with his line again and bowled a wide. Rinku then hit the last three balls for a six, four and a six. KKR lost the match by the barest of margin as Rinku lacked support from other end. The southpaw remained unbeaten for 67 off 33 balls including six fours and four sixes.
LSG’s innings got off to a slow start as only seven runs were scored in the first two overs. Quinton de Kock hit the first six of the innings in the third over. Harshit Rana dismissed Karan Sharma in the same over. Vaibhav Arora got hit for a six in his second over as well. Rana took a beating in the fifth over as Prerak Mankad hit him for three consecutive fours. Mankad went after Varun Chakravarthy as well hitting him for two fours. LSG had 54/1 on the board after powerplay overs.
Arora in his next over struck twice. First, Mankad went for a big shot but ended up getting caught by Rana on the point boundary. Mankad scored 26 runs from 20 balls including five fours. Marcus Stoinis got out for a two-ball duck as he was surprised by the bouncer. Pandya targetted Thakur and hit him for a six. In his first over, Narine got the wicket of Pandya who scored just nine runs from eight balls. At halfway stage, LSG were 73/4.
Chakravarthy lured De Kock into a big shot and got his wicket. The opener scored 28 runs from 27 balls including two sixes. Nicholas Pooran walked out to bat and smashed Chakravarthy with two fours and a six. In Chakravarthy, Pooran went big again and hit a six. Ayush Badoni took his time in the middle. Pooran took the attacking route against Suyash Sharma too with a six and a four. In the 18th over, Badoni went after Narine with a four and a six. But Narine finished his spell with the wicket of Badoni. He scored 25 runs from 21 deliveries including two fours.
The penultimate over was a mixed bag for Thakur. Pooran smashed him for two sixes and got to his half-century. Then, Pooran was caught by Iyer at deep backward point. The Caribbean batter scored 58 runs from 30 balls including four fours and five sixes. In the same over Bishnoi got bowled after scoring two runs. Russell bowled the last over of the innings. He conceded just three runs from first four balls. Then Gowtham finished the innings in style with a four and a six to help LSG post 176/8.
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