The Kolkata Knight Riders dominated the entire game on Sunday, winning 98 runs to overtake the Lucknow Super Giants and taking the top spot in the points table thanks to an all-around performance led by Sunil Narine. At the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, KKR’s 235 for 6 was the first time any team had scored more over 200 runs. LSG was bundled out for 137, meaning they were unsuccessful in the run chase.
The distinction is middle overs.
Thanks in major part to Sunil Narine’s prolific batting, KKR not only retained their early batting momentum through the middle overs, but they also totally neutralized LSG’s ball chase. They took seven wickets in this session and gave up just sixty runs to put an end to LSG’s momentum and hand them a crushing loss.
| – | KKR | LSG |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 101/2 | 60/7 |
| Run-Rate | 11.22 | 6.67 |
| 4s/6s | 4/8 | 3/4 |
Knight Riders of Kolkata
Powerplay: Salt and Narine keep up the destructive work
RR: 11.67, 11x4s, 2x6s; KKR: 70/1
Narine and Phil Salt kept up their winning ways at the top, giving KKR another fantastic start. In the third over, Narine took apart Naveen ul Haq, while Salt got things starting with a streaky boundary off the first ball. In contrast to previous times, the pair scored 61 runs in 25 balls before Salt left, relying more on boundaries than sixes. Yash Thakur ended the powerplay with a sparing over, but KKR scored the highest runs against LSG this season during this stage.
Middle: LSG retaliate after Narine blows up.
RR: 11.22, 4x4s, 8x6s; KKR: 101/2
Narine went on a rampage, eager to take on the short balls, once the field restrictions were implemented. Marcus Stoinis was the target of the most vicious of those blows, as he was hit for three sixes in four balls during the eleventh over. For a brief while, Angkrish Raghuvanshi also joined the assault, content to switch the attack around and give the southpaw more space to move his hands. Devdutt Padikkal, who was clinging onto a catch at a distance but stumbling over the ropes, gave Narine his fair share of luck. He cut to short third after one delivery, but Mohsin Khan’s diving attempt was insufficient to allow him to get a grip on the ball. He was able to hole out to Padikkal at the same location off an incorrect ‘un by Ravi Bishnoi, but he was unable to capitalize on the opportunities and was eventually removed in the following over. Although Andre Russell’s visit was short, it made the bowlers spray in their lines.
Death: A late burst from Ramandeep
RR: 12.80, 6x4s, 3x6s; KKR: 64/3
KKR failed to discover the necessary acceleration for the majority of the death overs. After making a strong start, Raghuvanshi was substituted out due to a great catch made by K Gowtham. After that, Shreyas Iyer and Rinku Singh appeared a little shaky and were unable to contain the slower deliveries that were struck at hard distances. But because the LSG bowlers didn’t bowl the hard lengths often enough, Iyer and Ramandeep Singh were able to profit from the full deliveries. In his six-ball stint, Ramandeep hit three sixes and a four, making him particularly vicious as KKR amassed the biggest T20 total at the ground.
Super Giants of Lucknow
Powerplay: Stoinis gets off to a light start
LSG: 55/1 (7x4s, 2x6s, RR:9.17)
LSG launched an early onslaught in search of a large target, with KL Rahul hitting a boundary off the opening ball. They continued to attack even after Arshin Kulkarni was out of the game in the second over. Stoinis gave the pursuit a boost in the fourth over when he smashed Mitchell Starc for three boundaries off of four balls. Two overs later, he hooked Harshit Rana for a six. For LSG, it was the most successful powerplay of the season.
In the middle: LSG collapse
RR: 6.67, 3x4s, 4x6s; LSG: 60/7
In the middle overs, the chase’s wheels came entirely off. After Rahul was caught at deep point in the ninth over, the collapse continued unabated. In the next over, Nicholas Pooran and Andre Russell Stoinis were trapped LBW, followed by Deepak Hooda. Their suffering was exacerbated by Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, who sent back Ashton Turner and Ayush Badoni, respectively. There was no respite, and despite LSG’s best efforts to attack, they were never able to gain the upper hand.
Death overs: Made amends
LSG: 7/2 in 1.1 overs, 0x4s, 1x6s, with RR of 6.00
The KKR bowlers quickly removed the final two wickets, knowing that the outcome was inevitable. Even a dropped catch by Ravi Bishnoi did not prevent them from folding in 3.5 overs.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 137 in 16.1 overs (Marcus Stoinis 36, KL Rahul 25; Harshit Rana 3-24, Varun Chakravarthy 3-30) were defeated by Kolkata Knight Riders 235/6 in 20 overs (Sunil Narine 81, Phil Salt 32, Naveen-ul-Haq 3-49) by 98 runs.
From here, where do they go?
Before playing the Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens on Saturday, Kolkata Knight Riders will return home and have a lengthy rest. On the other side, LSG will have to make the trip to Hyderabad on Wednesday in order to play SRH.
