In the 66th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 2 runs at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
KL Rahul won the toss and decided to bat first. The decision turned out to be absolute gunner as both the opening batters played throughout the inning. Quinton de Kock (140*) showcased his full potential as the South African batter hammered a century. With ten fours and ten sixes, the southpaw played at a strike rate of 200 which took the scorecard to the tip of the mountain. Along with him, captain Rahul (68*) helped the score to move along as he also smashed an unbeaten fifty. Although Rahul was looking in great form, he knew it was Quinton’s evening and rightly so gave most of the strike to him. Both the batsmen took LSG to a total of 210 for no loss in 20 overs.
In the chase, KKR had once again a rough start as they lost two wickets upfront. They were quite good innings from KKR batters in the middle overs from Nitish Rana (42), Shreyas Iyer (50) and Sam Billings (36) which helped the Kolkata based team be in the chase. In the end, a top knock by Rinku Singh (40) and Sunil Narine (21*) took KKR almost over the line in the last over. The intent was clear but the effort was just short of what was required.
Marcus Stoinis bowled the all-important last over and despite giving away a few many runs, he managed to scalp three wickets in just two overs. Mohsin Khan was also economical in the second innings and with this, he grabbed three wickets too. One wicket each for Krishnappa Gowtham and Ravi Bishnoi as well.
For KKR, there was no bowler who could grab a wicket at the DY Patil Stadium. Sunil Narine was the only bowler to be more economical than anyone else. Umesh Yadav also did pretty good work in the powerplay.
Quinton de Kock was adjudged Man of the Match for his explicit knock with the bat. Following this win, LSG have been qualified for the playoffs as they now have 18 points on the table.
Scorecard:
Lucknow Super Giants: 210/0, Overs 20, Quinton de Kock 140*
Kolkata Knight Riders: 208/8, Overs 20, Shreyas Iyer 50, Mohsin Khan 3/20