In the 38th match, it was a thriller at the Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The match again reached the last round as the last match. The match went to a super finish as KKR won the game easily, chasing two runs in the super finish.
Rishabh Pant won the toss and opted to bowl first on a slow, dry wicket. The home team made one change by bringing in George Linde in place of M Siddharth. KKR played against the same team they fielded in the match against Rajasthan Royals.
Mohsin Khan’s fife is in vain
After being invited to bat first, KKR got off to a horrible start as they lost Tim Seifert for a duck and Ajinkya Rahane who trailed them for just 10 runs. Mohsin Khan was on top of the KKR batsmen as he picked up 5 wickets in the match, bowled sensationally and finished with 5/23 in his four overs. Cameron Green scored 34 in the game.
However, it was Rinku Singh who was the game-changer in the match as he played a phenomenal knock of 83 runs and smashed four consecutive sixes in the final over of Digvesh Rathi as KKR scored 26 runs in the last over and KKR scored 155/8 in 20 overs.
Rishabh Pant failed to chase the target
Coming into the chase, LSG opener Mitchell Marsh returned early and then Aiden Markram and Rishabh Pant formed a partnership in the middle but Cam Green dismissed Markram and then Sunil Narine picked out the dangerous Pant to score 42 runs.
Nicholas Pooran returned after being dismissed for another poor score of nine runs. Wickets continued to fall, with the penultimate hero of the KKR vs LSG match, Mukul Choudhary, bowled for a run. Ayush Badoni returned after scoring 24 runs as Super Giants’ dreams were dashed as LSG needed 17 runs from the end.
But Kartik Tyagi gave away 16 runs in the final over as he bowled two no balls and a six off Mohammed Shami’s final delivery. The match went to a super over.
Narine used all his experience and bowled brilliantly, picking up Pooran’s wicket on the first ball, and then on the third ball, Markram was dismissed, with Rovman Powell and Rinku Singh taking a brilliant combined catch. Two runs are needed in the super over. Rinku hit four of the first balls.
We definitely need a break- Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant was smiling after the match and was not happy with the fact that they failed to reach the target of 156 runs. He said that the team needs a break to refresh the minds of the players in the squad.
Rishabh Pant said: “We definitely need a break. Let’s freshen up. It’s always going to be a pressure game. We need to take responsibility, each and every guy. It has to be about the entire team.”
“(On Pooran) We had a discussion. The name that came up was Nicky P. He is not in the best shape of his life, but you have to trust your player to get through. There may not be enough positives at the moment, but after the break, there will surely be (enough positives).”
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