Kolkata Knight Riders registered an enormous 98-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in the 54th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 on Sunday. A win boosted Shreyas Iyer’s KKR to the top of the points table and an inch nearer to a playoff qualification at Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Sunil Narine continued his red-hot kind by smashing 81 runs off simply 39 balls as Kolkata Knight Riders posted 235/6, the highest-ever complete in Lucknow in IPL historical past. Then Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell picked a mixed 5 wickets to bowl out KL Rahul‘s LSG to 137 in 16.1 overs.
With 16 points in the primary 11 matches, Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata all however secured a spot in the points table. Lucknow slipped to fifth place with six wins in eleven matches however stay in rivalry to make playoffs for the third consecutive season.
After being compelled to bat first, Kolkata loved a sensation begin with in-form openers Phil Salt and Sunil Narine including 61 runs in simply 26 balls. Naveen-ul-Haq gave Lucknow a breakthrough with Salt’s big wicket in the fifth over however Narine saved Kolkata on observe with his fourth fifty-plus innings this season.
Bishnoi ended Narine’s explosive innings in the twelfth over after which Kolkata struggled to hold the momentum. Naveen bagged worthwhile wickets of Andre Russell and Rinku Singh’s in the center overs however Kolkata managed to submit a big complete of 235 with Ramandeep Singh smashing 25* off simply 6 balls. Naveen picked three wickets for 49 for Lucknow however all bowlers went costly at Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Chasing a mammoth goal, Lucknow misplaced younger opener Arshin Kulkarni in the second over with Ramandeep Singh pulling off a sensational catch on Mitchell Starc’s supply. In-form KL Rahul and Marcus Stoinis saved Lucknow alive in the chase by including 50 runs for the second wicket.
Returning pacer Harshit Rana gave Kolkata a breakthrough to dismiss KL Rahul in the eighth over after which Lucknow’s innings suffered an embarrassing collapse. Stoinis top-scored with 36 runs off simply 21 balls however none of his teammates managed to achieve the 30-run mark.Â
Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy picked three wickets every and Russell claimed two big wickets as Lucknow’s inning collapsed to 137. Narine bagged the Player of the Match award for scoring 81 runs and taking a wicket.
Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI: KL Rahul (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ashton Turner, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mohsin Khan (substituted by Yudhvir Singh), Yash Thakur (substituted by Arshin Kulkarni).
Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XI: Philip Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (substituted by Vaibhav Arora), Shreyas Iyer (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana.
