Kolkata Knight Riders registered a huge 98-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in the 54th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 on Sunday. A win boosted Shreyas Iyer's KKR to the top of the points table and an inch closer to a playoff qualification at Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Sunil Narine continued his red-hot form by smashing 81 runs off just 39 balls as Kolkata Knight Riders posted 235/6, the highest-ever total in Lucknow in IPL history. Then Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell picked a combined five wickets to bowl out KL Rahul's LSG to 137 in 16.1 overs.
With 16 points in the first 11 matches, Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata all but secured a spot in the points table. Lucknow slipped to fifth position with six wins in eleven matches but remain in contention to make playoffs for the third consecutive season.
After being forced to bat first, Kolkata enjoyed a sensation start with in-form openers Phil Salt and Sunil Narine adding 61 runs in just 26 balls. Naveen-ul-Haq gave Lucknow a breakthrough with Salt's big wicket in the fifth over but Narine kept Kolkata on track with his fourth fifty-plus innings this season.
Bishnoi ended Narine's explosive innings in the 12th over and then Kolkata struggled to carry the momentum. Naveen bagged valuable wickets of Andre Russell and Rinku Singh's in the middle overs but Kolkata managed to post a big total of 235 with Ramandeep Singh smashing 25* off just 6 balls. Naveen picked three wickets for 49 for Lucknow but all bowlers went expensive at Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Chasing a mammoth target, Lucknow lost young opener Arshin Kulkarni in the second over with Ramandeep Singh pulling off a sensational catch on Mitchell Starc's delivery. In-form KL Rahul and Marcus Stoinis kept Lucknow alive in the chase by adding 50 runs for the second wicket.
Returning pacer Harshit Rana gave Kolkata a breakthrough to dismiss KL Rahul in the eighth over and then Lucknow's innings suffered an embarrassing collapse. Stoinis top-scored with 36 runs off just 21 balls but none of his teammates managed to reach the 30-run mark.
Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy picked three wickets each and Russell claimed two big wickets as Lucknow's inning collapsed to 137. Narine bagged the Player of the Match award for scoring 81 runs and taking a wicket.
Lucknow Super Giants Playing XI: KL Rahul (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ashton Turner, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mohsin Khan (substituted by Yudhvir Singh), Yash Thakur (substituted by Arshin Kulkarni).
Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XI: Philip Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (substituted by Vaibhav Arora), Shreyas Iyer (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana.
