Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants Match Scorecard

Phil Salt achieves his fifth IPL fifty of the season. Credited his success to playing alongside Shreyas Iyer.

KKR’s openers played aggressive innings. Sunil Narine hit seven towering sixes in his 81-ball innings, while Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Shreyas Iyer also produced aggressive knocks that helped Kolkata amass an immense total. For detailed match stats and updates, check out the Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants match scorecard.

KKR 235 (Phil Salt 89, Sunil Narine 81) beat Lucknow Super Giants 235 (Shreyas Iyer 63, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 32) by 98 runs

Kolkata Knight Riders were on fire this evening as Sunil Narine hit form to post an impressive score at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow – setting an IPL record total with their 20 over total at Ekana. Phil Salt, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Shreyas Iyer all contributed with scores in these 20 overs for Kolkata Knight Riders at Ekana – this total being the highest total ever reached there since it opened for IPL play in 2012.

KKR displayed an incredible display of power hitting that will give them immense confidence heading into future matches. Salt and Narine put up an outstanding opening stand of 61 runs in just six balls before Narine was caught behind off a slower delivery by Naveen-ul-Haq and caught.

Shreyas Iyer of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) stated that their approach is simple: they do not assess the pitch in the initial six overs; rather they simply play to enjoy themselves and remain flexible regarding right and left-handers, with Mitchell Starc’s return providing immense morale booster.

Harshit Rana comes on and immediately hits a six over long-off. Shortly thereafter he follows it up with four down leg side as LSG’s batting troubles persist.

An Iyer single quickly got them back on track as he and Iyer put on an impressive partnership of 75 runs off four overs, which included Ramandeep Singh joining in later and helping KKR reach an impressive total of 235 in their allotted quota.

Naveen-ul-Haq takes out one of KKR’s leading run scorers with an off-spinner’s full toss from his bowler, striking Bishnoi in front and prompting calls for review; but the umpire stands by his decision and leaves LSG short of an ambitious target.

Though a quick start was made, Rana and Mohsin Khan quickly put an end to any doubt over whether their team will reach its target as they reduced them to 137 for 8 in 16.1 overs. Harshit Rana sealed the game for KKR by taking down Krunal Pandya for only four runs, virtually ending LSG’s chances. Their 98-run triumph propelled them to the top of the table and bodes well for their playoff hopes. After this win, they will also enjoy an advantage in net run rate over their closest rivals. After suffering two consecutive defeats earlier in the season, they’ll hope this victory can give them some much-needed momentum going into future double headers and semi final qualification matches. It is an essential stage in this tournament.

Scorecard

Kolkata have recorded another convincing win at home to move them up the points table and into first position. Although Sunil Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi both left during their powerplay periods, Phil Salt and Shreyas Iyer still contributed immensely towards building an incredible total scoreboard total for Kolkata; making this their second success at home this season.

KKR began with an aggressive approach and Salt and Narine were key figures, smashing boundaries and sixes easily to help their side to an impressive total of 235 runs – the highest total ever scored at this venue in T20 cricket history!

Lucknow’s chase did not begin well as they struggled against an effective bowling unit. KL Rahul found some early boundaries but failed to gain any run-scoring momentum; Marcus Stoinis took the baton briefly but failed to help regain momentum either.

Shreyas Iyer comes into bat next and immediately hit one to square leg for four runs! An instant review is called for but UltraEdge shows it hit Shreyas Iyer in the leg stump area instead – upholding umpire’s decision and upholding UltraEdge’s analysis that the ball did indeed clip his leg stump.

As they pursued their massive target, KKR lost yet another wicket when Rudra Pratap Singh was caught at deep square leg by Devdutt Padikkal for 27. Fortunately, Angkrish Raghuvanshi managed to avoid run out scare and returned safely back into his crease.

Yash Thakur’s first delivery of the over was hit for a single to long on, and then set off towards second slip for another run attempt, but Devdutt Padikkal wasn’t able to make a clean catch and the ball rolls behind him, narrowly sparing Angkrish from serious danger and setting him up as the sole striker in the final over. Shreyas then responded by smashing Yash’s full toss straight to the boundary for FOUR to take his personal total up to 64 and give LSG an enormous target that LSG must chase!

Match Summary

KKR completely took command of their match against Lucknow Super Giants and cruised to an easy win. Phil Salt was in superb form, smashing an unbeaten 89 off just 47 balls – his second big innings for KKR in as many innings and put together an unbroken partnership with Sunil Narine (81 not out). Even with losing Angkrish Raghuvanshi during powerplay, hosts maintained their run-rate to reach 235 all out.

At first, Kolkata made an excellent start with their bowlers as visitors struggled to keep pace. Mitchell Starc was particularly impressive, claiming KL Rahul in just the fourth over before Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy each chipped in three wickets as home team fell far short of target and experienced massive collapse.

LSG struggled to score runs as their batting performance faltered under pressure from KKR’s bowlers and their slow pitch. Nicholas Pooran was dismissed early for only single-digit scores while Deepak Hooda and Marcus Stoinis also met their end early, increasing the required rate from 7 to 12, leading to further collapse and prompting quick dismissals by Deepak Hooda and Marcus Stoinis respectively. This caused a quick collapse that quickly ensued.

Shreyas Iyer feels his team needed to be patient against a formidable KKR side and weren’t successful in doing so. They instead tried going hard but ended up losing wickets frequently and needed to improve both with bat and ball in order to achieve results. Shreyas asserts that to achieve lasting success they need to work harder together as one team to get results from every match they participate in.

KL Rahul was understandably distraught at their defeat and felt the bowlers had excelled on this pitch. According to him, they tried too hard and lost wickets before realising they must work on improving their game and alter their approach accordingly. He expressed hope that the team would learn from its defeat, gaining strength for their next match against Mumbai – they’re currently tied at the top of the points table! He thanked fans for coming out in large numbers to show their support; then promised they’d come back fighting against them as strongly as before. As they face off again for this round’s final matchup at Ekana Cricket Stadium, both sides should give it their all in an expected high-scoring contest to secure top two finishes and secure one of two berths in the top tier of playback rankings. Both squads possess proven records of success at the ground. Both teams have met twice already, with Kolkata winning both times. Although more experienced, Lucknow Super Giants have shown tremendous potential this season and could prove difficult opponents.