Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) won the match by a mere margin of 4 runs while defending the target of 239 runs. The day game at Eden Gardens was a thrill to watch for the spectators, given that the surface was a proper batting track. Nicholas Pooran again stole the limelight by playing a staggering knock of 87 runs in 36 balls. Nicholas Pooran looked quite invincible as he hit 7 fours and 8 sixes and was dealing in boundaries.
KKR would be in a state of shock given their below-par bowling performance & how their middle order collapsed. KKR’s performance has been scratchy; in one match, they play like a champion team, and in the other one, they just play like a rookie team, where players don’t seem to have role clarity in the team.
Mitchell Marsh & Nicholas Pooran whack KKR bowlers
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane stunned everyone by opting to bowl first after winning the toss. We have seen most of the teams opting to bat first, given it is a day game and dew hardly comes in the match. Mitchell Marsh was seen struggling to clear the fence, and then there was a role reversal done with Aiden Markram going berserk.
Aiden Markram was targeted with a short ball ploy, who played behind the wicket and pulled shots. The way Markram smashed bowlers around the park reminded the world of cricket that he can also rip apart the bowling unit in the powerplay overs. We have seen in this edition how Markram plays the role of anchor & Marsh takes on the bowling attack.
LSG had a remarkable powerplay with 59 runs and were unscathed. Aiden Markram was clean bowled by Harshit Rana in the 11th over, and the score was 99-1 in 10.2 overs with Markram scoring 47 runs in 28 balls, involving 4 fours and 2 sixes. Then there was Nicholas Pooran’s show, who just hammered every other bowler.
Nicholas Pooran was hitting boundaries for fun, as just a flick of the wrist and a shot check was clearing the rope and the boundary. In the 14th & 15th over bowled by Varun Chakravarthy & Sunil Narine respectively, Pooran hit 3 combined sixes to both spinners. Nicholas Pooran was playing mind games by a slight change in the stance and was smashing the ball against the turn easily.
The departure of Mitchell Marsh (*81 runs in 48 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes) in the 16th over got Pooran more into the groove. In the 18th over, Pooran took on the mighty Andre Russell as neither the short ball ploy worked nor the full-length ball worked, as Pooran scored 24 runs in that over by hitting 3 fours and 2 sixes. LSG got to a gigantic score of 238-3 with LSG smashing a breathtaking 18 fours and 15 sixes , out of which 8 sixes came from the bat of the new six-hitter Nichola Pooran.
Ajinkya Rahane’s gritty knock goes in vain after LSG bowlers script a terrific turnaround
KKR needed a miracle, and in fact more than to chase down 239 runs in just 120 balls. That happened to some extent as KKR amassed 90 runs in the first 6 overs with Sunil Narine playing a blinder knock of 30 runs in 13 balls and Ajinkya Rahane unleashing the attack. Ajinkya Rahane’s footwork and timing were commendable he despatched the ball in the stands effortlessly.
In the 7th over, Digvesh Rathi got the wicket of his idol Sunil Narine, who couldn’t control the shot after wanting to clear long off but not being able to do so. Venkatesh Iyer & Ajinkya Rahane had a stern task in front of them with KKR needing another 148 runs to win from 13.4 overs, which wasn’t an impossible task one but needed a long & effective partnership.
The impact player sub of LSG Ravi Bishnoi was targeted by Rahane & Venkatesh; they didn’t allow him to get his line & length right with an odd boundary in his first 2 overs. At the end of 10 overs, KKR’s score was 129-2, requiring 110 runs to win, which was attainable given 8 wickets in hand. KKR almost had the game in their pocket with 90 to win from 8 overs as Rahane was cruising with his exquisite strokeplay.
Shardul Thakur came in to bowl the 13th over, who bowled 5 back-to-back wides to Rahane while trying to bowl wide off-stump yorkers. Just when KKR didn’t want a wicket to fall, on the last ball of the 13th over, Rahane gave an easy catch to the extra-cover fielder at Pooran and did not give a proper treatment to a low full toss. KKR was still in a good position with 162-3 needing another 77 runs to win from 7 overs.
The wicket of Rahane brought the self-belief back in LSG. KKR promotes Ramandeep Singh to the No. 5 position, which was quite unusual as Ramandeep bats at No.7 or No.8 position. From 162-3, KKR had a shocking collapse to 185-7 in 16.1 overs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi too got promoted ahead of Rinku Singh & Andre Russell, and he too succumbed to pressure.
KKR needed 54 to win from 24 balls, and Rinku & Russell had a steep task in front of them. Shardul Thakur got the wicket of Russell on a juicy full toss, and Russell got trapped in it by not connecting it properly, and gave a catch at long off. Shardul showed his other side as well of enticing the batter with the full toss and taking their wickets, but that is not productive. But against KKR, it worked with the wickets of Rahane & Russell.
Rinku Singh was fighting a lone battle as no proper batter at the non-striker end. Rinku would have wondered why I am batting at the No.8 position while playing for India, he comes to bat at the No.5 or No. 6 position. Rinku Singh gave his all to win the match, but when the required run rate is 24 in the last over, it’s not a video game where a batter can cross the finish line every time.
Rinku Singh came on strike on the last 3 balls with KKR needing 19 to win, as 3 sixes could have taken the game to a super over. Ravi Bishnoi, who was bowling the ultimate over, made sure that he bowled wide-off stump length to Rinku so as not to bowl in his hitting arc. In the last ball though, when 11 runs were required to win, Bishnoi bowled a flighted delivery to middle and leg stump, which was in the stand, as LSG won by 4 runs.
LSG conceded 22 extras in their innings, including 20 extras, which is a total close to 4 overs and precisely another 3.4 overs being bowled. LSG skipper Rishabh Pant must be lauded for he way he turned the game around in the last 8 overs with his bowling changes and field placements, and constant interactions with bowlers, as the surface had absolutely no demons in it, we can say a proper road track.
What lies ahead for KKR & LSG
KKR have got themselves to blame for the way they played across the batting & bowling departments. KKR almost pulled off a miracle but they badly messed up in the last 7-8 overs of the contest & lost invaluable 2 points. KKR are now placed in 6th position on the points table with 4 points from 5 matches, and the next match is against CSK on 11th April.
LSG, though would be stunned given how they batted and also bowled. The end result may have gone in favor of LSG, but they could have lost the match with 2 overs left as well. LSG’s next match is also a day one but against GT at Lucknow, and with now having 6 points to their name in 5 matches and placed at 5th position, the side is slightly peaking, but still a long rally ahead for Rishabh Pant’s unit.
Also Read:Â KKR vs LSG: LSG’s Narrow Win Breaks A Lot Of Records