Kolkata Knight Riders beat Lucknow Super Giants in Super Over thriller

Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Lucknow Super Giants in a Super Over after both teams tied at 155. Sunil Narine starred with the ball, while Rinku Singh’s unbeaten 83 guided KKR to a competitive total in Lucknow

Lucknow: After Lucknow Super Giants walked with them toe-to-toe in regulation time, Kolkata Knight Riders found a familiar saviour in Sunil Narine to register a tight Super Over victory in their IPL match here on Sunday.

Both Super Giants and Knight Riders ended up at 155 when a total of 40 overs were bowled, but Narine made all the difference in the Super Over.

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Conjuring his years of experience, the spinner dismissed Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram to limit LSG to 1 for two, which was also the lowest score in a Super Over.

The Kolkatans did not fumble and notched up the required two runs, with Rinku Singh, who also had a wonderful day on the field taking four catches, fittingly fetching the winning runs.

It was Rinku’s well-paced 83 not out off 51 balls that worked as the catalyst for KKR’s total of 155 for seven earlier.

Once the Super Giants restricted KKR to that modest total, courtesy Mohsin Khan’s five-for, they had an excellent chance to register a rare home victory.

But the hosts slipped against a set of spot-on Kolkata bowlers on a slow black soil pitch.

The result pushed KKR to eighth on the table with five points, while LSG plummeted to the bottom of the pile with four points.

The Super Giants have some big names in their roster, skipper Rishabh Pant, Markram, Mitchell Marsh and Pooran.

But none of them could give direction and shape to LSG’s chase.

Pant (42) and Markram (31) looked to be in good touch and they added 57 runs for the second wicket after the early departure of Marsh.

But Markram fell to Cameron Green’s pace-off delivery, while Pant’s attempt to reverse scoop Narine resulted in a catch to stumper Tim Seifert.

It left LSG’s fate in the hands of a clutch of young domestic players like Ayush Badoni, Himmat Singh and Mukul Choudhary to see off the chase.

They whittled down the equation to 17 off the last over with luck and pluck. Two successive no-balls by Kartik Tyagi reduced the equation to 12 off five balls.

But the pacer was allowed to continue to bowl even after two waist-high no-balls because the second illegal delivery was deemed non-dangerous by the officials.

He dismissed Himmat Singh, leaving LSG to make eight off three balls, but Mohammed Shami’s last-ball six pushed the match into the season’s first Super Over.

Earlier, LSG pacer Mohsin added another chapter to KKR’s batting woes, taking five wickets to restrict them to 155 for seven.

Mohsin’s five for 23 tore apart an already struggling KKR batting unit, as he took the key wickets of Ajinkya Rahane, Seifert, Green, Rovman Powell and Anukul Roy.

Rinku punished Shami in the 19th over for 6, 4, 4 and then hit four sixes in a row against spinner Digvesh Rathi as KKR made 43 runs in the last two overs to go past the 150-run mark.

But despite that late burst, Mohsin firmly stood in the limelight.

His bowling approach was rooted in simple tactics, bowling into the black soil pitch to gain bounce or using cutters at varying pace to keep the batters guessing.

Mohsin, who started the night with a wicket maiden, showed his variety across two dismissals.

He followed Rahane with a fuller ball as the batter tried to go over the covers, but the ball’s trajectory forced the KKR skipper to slice it up for a simple catch to Markram.

The 27-year-old stayed calm when Green, who looked comfortable while smashing George Linde for two successive sixes, hit him for a huge maximum.

Two balls later, Mohsin dug one short, challenging Green (34) to go for the pull and the Australian all-rounder took the bait.

The into-the-body angle worked again as Green could only sky the ball to wicketkeeper Pant.

Green’s dismissal also ended a fifth wicket partnership worth 42 with Rinku Singh.

 

 

Bizarre dismissal of Raghuvanshi

If the existing turmoil was not enough, KKR had to bear the disappointment of seeing Angkrish Raghuvanshi getting dismissed for obstructing the field.

On the final ball of the fifth over from Prince Yadav, Raghuvanshi nudged one towards mid-on and set off for a single, only to be sent back by Green.

Raghuvanshi put in a dive to save himself but came in the line of the throw from Shami.

Subsequently, third umpire Rohit Pandit accepted LSG’s appeal and decided that the batter’s turning radius was more than required, resulting in the dismissal in a rare manner.