In the 28th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by eight wickets at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata.
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to field first. It was a quality effort from the home team’s bowlers as they held LSG to just 161/7 in 20 overs on a good batting surface. Experienced Mitchell Starc and reliable Sunil Narine were at their best, while Andre Russell, Varun Chakaravarthy, and others also took vital wickets, allowing KKR to restrict LSG to a modest total.
In the chase, Philip Salt (89) highlighted his best tonight as he smashed an unbeaten half-century. The game was taken away from the visitors by the wicketkeeper batter, who pounded three sixes and fourteen fours. Sunil Narine (6) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (7) also scored a boundary each but that was it. Skipper Iyer (38) batted beautifully from the other end and made sure KKR reached the winning line comfortably. Both batters added 120 runs together to take the unit home in just 15.4 overs.
With the bat in the first innings, Quinton de Kock (10) and KL Rahul (39) provided a positive start to their innings but couldn’t have any impactful knocks. Notably, Nicholas Pooran (45) played a handy knock, which consisted of four sixes and two fours. With him, Ayush Badoni’s (29) calm and composed inning helped LSG post a decent score on the board.
Mitchell Starc finally registered a good figure today as he got three wickets and gave just 28 runs. One wicket each was also grabbed by Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.
For LSG with the ball, Mohsin Khan was the only bowler to pick up two wickets.
Phil Salt was named Player of the Match for his outstanding batting performance. Following this win, KKR have registered their fourth win of the season and are still second in the points tally.
Scorecard:
Lucknow Super Giants: 161/7, Overs 20, Nicholas Pooran 45, Mitchell Starc 3/28
Kolkata Knight Riders: 162/2, Overs 15.4, Philip Salt 89, Mohsin Khan 2/29