Rinku heroics not enough as LSG win to seal playoffs spot
KOLKATA: The Kolkata Knight Riders' bowlers did well to restrict Lucknow Super Giants to 176 for eight after asking them to bat first on a slow pitch in their last league match here at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
However, that too proved not enough as the KKR batters fumbled once again to end at 175 for seven and go down by one run to crash out of the IPL, ending up with 12 points from 14 games. The win ensured LSG a berth in the playoffs as the third-best team with 17 points for the second-time in-a-row.
In spite of getting off to a flying start reaching 61 runs for the loss of opener Venkatesh Iyer in the first six overs, the introduction of spin saw runs drying up as the hosts managed just 21 runs losing two wickets in four overs after the powerplay. LSG's leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi did the maximum damage, returning with two for 23.
Rinku Singh once again played a lone hand staying undefeated on 67 off 33 balls with the help of six fours and four sixes, but this time he too could not take his side across the line. Earlier LSG batters struggled to get going losing wickets at regular intervals playing a huge 49 dot balls in the innings.
For a change, the KKR pacers provided them a good start with Vaibhav Arora striking hard picking up Prerak Mankad and Marcus Stoinis in his third over after his new-ball partner Harshit Rana drew first blood dismissing opener Karan Sharma, coming in place of Deepak Hooda, early.
1/10:IPL 2023: LSG edge KKR by 1 run to enter playoffs
IANS
2/10:Rinku Singh
<p>Lucknow Super Giants survived an unbeaten blitz of 67 by Rinku Singh to edge Kolkata Knight Riders by one run and qualify for the playoffs on Saturday. </p>AFP
3/10:Nicholas Pooran
<p>Nicholas Pooran guided Lucknow to 176/8, a total that was threatened by Rinku, who smashed four sixes in his 33-ball knock but Kolkata ended on 175/7. </p>IANS
4/10:58 off 30 balls
<p>Nicholas Pooran resurrected Lucknow from a precarious 73/5 by smashing five sixes and four boundaries in his knock of 58 off 30 balls. </p>IANS
5/10:Quinton de Kock
<p>Quinton de Kock struggled to 28 off 27 balls before he was caught in the deep while going for a slog sweep against Varun Chakarvarthy's googly. </p>IANS
6/10:Marcus Stoinis
<p>Marcus Stoinis was undone by a sharp bouncer from Vaibhav Arora (2/30) to get caught off his gloves for zero. </p>IANS
7/10:Jason Roy
<p>In reply, Jason Roy (45), and Venkatesh Iyer (24) gave Kolkata a brisk start in their stand of 61 in 5.5 overs before the Lucknow spinners hit back. </p>IANS
8/10:Rinku to the rescue
<p>Kolkata lost track after Roy's wicket but Rinku made Kolkata dream again even when they needed 40 off the last two overs. </p>PTI
9/10:67 runs off 33 balls
<p>Rinku crashed 67 runs off 33 balls and nearly pulled off a sensational win for Kolkata to overhaul Lucknow's total of 176/8. </p>AFP
10/10:Rinku on the rampage
<p>Rinku hit 20 off Naveen-ul-Haq in the penultimate over, and in the last over Yash Thakur conceded two sixes and a four off the final three balls. </p>AFPMankad began aggressively hitting Rana for three fours and found two more in Varun Chakravarthy's first over as LSG got to 54 for one in the powerplay. But Mankad's (26, 20b) brief stay in the middle ended when Rana took an easy catch at cover boundary off Arora. The pacer struck again with a short one that surprised Stoinis who managed to just glove it for Ventakesh Iyer to take an easy catch at first slip.
LSG suffered further setbacks losing their skipper Krunal Pandya and opener Quinton de Kock in consecutive overs. Sunil Narine picked up a restless Pandya caught by Rinku Singh at deep mid-wicket boundary in his first over while Chakravarthy had wicketkeeper-batter de Kock caught by Andre Russell for a 27-ball 28 in the next over. KKR decided to intensify pressure by replacing Rana, who bowled three overs, with Suyash Sharma as the impact player. However, Sharma bowled only one over.
But it was Nicholas Pooran who decided to take the attack to the rival camp by opening up with two fours and one six off Chakravarthy. The left-hander greeted Sharma with a six and a four in the spinner's only over. He had a good 74-run sixth-wicket stand off 47 balls with youngster Ayush Badoni, who put up a useful 25 off 21 balls.
