IPL is often known as Talent Meets Entertainment, and what we saw at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, was no different. Mukul Choudhary came out of nowhere and was out of syllabus for the Kolkata Knight Riders, as his breath-taking half-century and staying unbeaten stunned the Knights. Ayush Badoni also played well for his half-century. KKR batted first and, through explosive batting from Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Ajinkya Rahane, posted 181/4 in 20 overs with Cameron Green and Rovman Powell providing the finishing kick.
In the chase, LSG lost wickets after getting a solid opening combination and looked dead and buried at one stage. But Ayush Badoni’s half-century kept the team in the contest, and then Mukul single-handedly won it in the end, as the chase was achieved in a thrilling final-ball finish. KKR felt they were home and dry, but it was not to be in the end as LSG got two crucial points. KKR stays winless and in 9th place.
Explosive batting led by Angkrish Raghuvanshi powered KKR to 181/4
Put into bat first by LSG, captain Ajinkya Rahane opened the batting alongside Finn Allen for KKR, while Mohammad Shami opened the bowling for LSG. The pair began cautiously as they played Shami, but then went after Prince Yadav. The duo could only put on 15 for the first wicket as Prince had the last laugh over Allen, dismissing him for 9 off 8 balls with 2 fours to his name as Digvesh Rathi took the catch at deep third man. Keeper batter and man in form Angkrish Raghuvanshi came out to bat for KKR.
Rahane and Raghuvanshi joined hands and looked at ease out there in the middle. They played according to the merit of the ball and the situation, as the run rate rose as well. KKR did well to reach 56/1 in 6 overs and had the platform for a huge total. The duo did not stop there and continued their prowess through the middle phase of the game. For the first 10 overs of the innings, it was KKR all the way as they posted 98/1 in the halfway stage of the game.
Things started to unravel for KKR in the next phase of 5 overs from 11-15. The duo of Rahane and Raghuvanshi put on an awesome 84 runs off 52 balls to lay the platform for the Knights, but the partnership was finally broken when the captain Rahane fell for 41 off 24 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name as he fell to Digvesh Rathi. Cameron Green came out to bat next. Soon, the other set batter was dismissed, as Raghuvanshi fell for 45 off 33 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Manimaran Siddharth, as 6 runs were added between the two players.
Rinku Singh, the vice-captain, came out to bat next. The duo of Rinku and Cameron Green started to play Test cricket as boundaries dried up in this phase. To put things into perspective, KKR made 17 runs in the phase between overs 11-15. In between that, just 6 was added to the team total before Rinku was cleaned up for 4 off 7 balls by Avesh Khan. Rovman Powell came out to bat next. Powell and Green took time to get themselves in as KKR went from 98/1 in 10 overs to 115/4 in 15 overs.
KKR now had all to do in the death overs phase as Powell and Green were in the crease. KKR needed the finishing kick, and Powell played the big shots initially to relieve the pressure off Green. Green too joined the party and finished with a flurry at the end of the innings. The duo put on an unbroken 70 runs off 40 balls and scored 66 runs in the last 5 overs as KKR recovered well to breach 180 from the middle overs wobble.
Green was unbeaten on 32 off 24 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name, while Powell was unbeaten on 39 off 24 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name. KKR ended with 181/4 in 20 overs with 11 extras given by the fielding side.
LSG bowlers bowled decently as wickets were shared by them. Digvesh Rathi bowled well for his 1/25 in 4 overs. Manimaran Siddharth finished with 1/34 in 4 overs. Avesh Khan finished with 1/44 in 4 overs. Prince Yadav finished with 1/47 in 4 overs. Mohammed Shami bowled well but ended up wicketless, finishing with 0/27 in 4 overs. This means that LSG needed 182 runs to win off 20 overs for their win in three games.
Mukul Choudhary’s breath-taking half century takes LSG over the line in a thriller
Chasing 182 for the win, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram came out to bat for LSG while Impact Player Vaibhav Arora had the ball in hand for KKR. LSG got off to a great flying start courtesy their openers as they laid the platform for the others coming in. Markram was the aggressor of the two, while Marsh played himself in as well. The duo put on 41 for the first wicket before Markram fell for 22 off 15 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Vaibhav. Captain Rishabh Pant came out to bat next.
Just one run was added to the total before Marsh too fell for 15 off 11 balls with one four and one six to his name to Arora, who had two wickets in the over. Impact Player Ayush Badoni came out to bat next. Pant and Badoni tried to build a partnership of note. The powerplay score for LSG after 6 overs was 56/2 same as KKR, with an extra wicket lost.
The duo of Pant and Badoni added 31 runs for the third wicket before captain Pant fell for 10 off 9 balls with one four to his name to Cameron Green, who started to bowl in this match. Nicholas Pooran came out to bat next.
Badoni looked good from the outset as the Impact Player made an immediate impact on the game. The duo of Badoni and Pooran added 22 runs for the fourth wicket before the left-hander Pooran departed for 13 off 15 balls with one six to his name to Kartik Tyagi. Abdul Samad came out to bat next. Samad did not last long either, as 9 runs were added to the tally before Samad fell for 2 off 4 balls to Anukul Roy, who cleaned him up as half the side was out for 104 in 12.5 overs.
Mukesh Choudhary came out to join Badoni in the middle. Badoni was fluent and did the bulk of the scoring in this partnership. Badoni soon completed his fifty. Badoni and Mukul added 21 runs for the sixth wicket before Badoni fell for an enterprising 54 off 34 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes to his name. Mohammed Shami came out to bat next, and he did not last long. Just 3 runs were added to the tally before Shami fell for 1 off 3 balls to Sunil Narine. Avesh Khan came out to bat with LSG struggling at 128/7 in 16 overs and KKR all but home.
But what followed from here was the Mukul Choudhary show from hereon. Mukul played himself in and then launched an assault for the ages. He farmed the strike and kept Avesh away from the action and calculated the run chase perfectly to keep his side in the hunt. With 30 needed off 12 balls, Mukul hit two sixes and a boundary to bring the equation down to 14 off 6 balls.
Vaibhav Arora was tasked to bowl the final over, and after Avesh took a single off the first ball, Mukul hit a maximum to bring the equation down to 7 off 4 balls. Vaibhav came back well and delivered two perfect wide yorkers for two dot balls. With 7 needed off 2 balls, Mukul went over covers for the maximum to level the scores and then ran a bye to steal the win in the end.
Mukul was unbeaten on 54 off 27 balls with 2 fours and 7 sixes to his name, while Avesh was unbeaten on 1 off 3 balls. 10 extras given by the fielding side as LSG finished with 182/7 in 20 overs to win by 3 wickets off the final ball.
KKR had a mixed day with the ball in hand. Anukul Roy picked up 2/32 in 4 overs. Vaibhav Arora, the Impact Player, finished with 2/38 in 4 overs. Sunil Narine finished with 1/13 in 4 overs. Kartik Tyagi finished with 1/21 in 3 overs. Cameron Green finished with 1/28 in 2 overs. Navdeep Saini finished with 0/37 in 3 overs. So, LSG beat KKR by 3 wickets off the final ball of the game to climb upwards to 5th in the table. KKR stays in 9th place. Mukul Choudhary, for his splendid knock, was awarded the Player of the Match award.
What Lies Ahead
It will be back to the drawing board for KKR as they will need a win soon to come back in the tournament. LSG are doing well and will be back in action over the weekend. LSG are doing decently in 5th place. The bandwagon moves to Guwahati next for the next IPL game as the Rajasthan Royals take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru live from Guwahati on Friday night. It is a top-of-the-table clash between two unbeaten sides.
Let’s see how things pan out in the next IPL game between RR and RCB tomorrow.
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