Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) faced yet another collapse. Mohsin Khan's five-wicket haul in addition to Angkrish Raghuvanshi's controversial dismissal led to KKR struggling for 93/7. But Rinku Singh went berserk in the last two overs. After hitting Mohammed Shami for a six and two fours, he whacked Digvesh Rathi for four consecutive sixes in the final over. At one point, it seemed KKR would not post a target of over 140 but Rinku's unbeaten 51-ball 83 helped the post 155/7. After the defeat in the super over, LSG skipper Rishabh Pant explained why he gave Rathi the 20th over and didn’t use his fourth over earlier.
“There are always times in cricket where you can turn a little bit of bowling at the same time. But sometimes bowlers got to bowl that hard overs. And there will be time when I have to give him (Rathi) that in middle overs because I was looking for a wicket. I just didn't get one. That was the thought process behind it. And too many minds doesn't make it easy on the ground," Pant said in the post-match presentation.
Pant reveals why Pooran batted vs Narine in super over
In the last two overs, LSG conceded 43 runs. On a wicket that had assistance for bowlers, LSG batting crumbled as well. Pant top-scored with 42 off 38 deliveries. Shami’s last-ball six and Kartik Tyagi’s two no balls helped take the game into super over. Pant also explained why Nicholas Pooran was sent to bat in the super over against Sunil Narine despite his poor run in the tournament.
“We had a discussion as a group, we had a discussion and the name came up was Nicky P. He might not go through the best form of his life, but at the same time, you gotta trust your player in a hard situation like this. They're gonna come off nicely. So, no excuses there. Just looking at the positive, there might not be enough positive right now, but I think after the break, there will be a lot of enough positive for sure,” Pant explained.
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In the super over, Pant fell for a golden duck. Then Pant took a single and Aiden Markram was dismissed as well. Rinku won the game with a boundary off Prince Yadav. LSG lost their sixth game in the ongoing season. They find themselves at the bottom of the points table.