In the 53rd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 75 runs at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
After winning the toss, Shreyas Iyer asked Lucknow to bat first. Even though LSG lost captain KL Rahul in the first over itself for a platinum duck, the team had a supreme start to their innings as Quinton de Kock (50) scored a quickfire half century. Along with him, Deepak Hooda (41) was also smashing bowlers all around the park. Both the batsmen helped LSG to put up 71 runs for the second wicket partnership which laid a perfect foundation for later stages. Although there weren’t big runs scored by any batsmen, they all had a massive strike rate to their name. Marcus Stoinis (28) smashed four sixes to Shivam Mavi in the penultimate over and in the same over Jason Holder (13) scored on more maximum. Holder had a strike rate of 325 which helped the Lucknow based franchise reach a mammoth total of 176/7 in 20 overs.
Chasing 177, KKR had a horrible time at the MCA Stadium as the team tumbled in just 15 overs. Knight Riders only scored 25 runs in the powerplay and lost three wickets. The only hope for KKR fans was in Andre Russell (45) as he hammered almost every delivery that he faced until he got out. Sunil Narine (22) also tried his best but it just wasn’t KKR’s day. The two-time IPL winners only managed to score 101.
The KL Rahul-led team was spot on with the ball in the second innings as the team restricted KKR to one of the low scores of this year’s IPL. This was courtesy of Avesh Khan and Jason Holder who picked three wickets each. Mohsin Khan, Dushmantha Chameera and Ravi Bishnoi also scalped one wicket each.
For KKR, Andre Russell was the only bowler who looked impressive as he plucked two wickets tonight. Along with him, Sunil Narine, Shivam Mavi and Tim Southee managed to get one wicket each in the first innings.
Avesh Khan was adjudged Man of the Match for his brilliant bowling. Following this win, Lucknow Super Giants are now the table toppers with 14 points.
Scorecard:
Lucknow Super Giants: 176/7, Overs 20, Quinton de Kock 50, Andre Russell 2/22
Kolkata Knight Riders: 101/10, Overs 14.3, Andre Russell 45, Avesh Khan 3/19