LSG Edge KKR by 4 Runs in High-Scoring Thriller at Eden Gardens
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) edged out defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by a mere 4 runs in a high-scoring thriller at Eden Gardens on Tuesday, April 8. KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and chose to bowl first, but his bowlers were unable to hold back the LSG batting rampage.
Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh laid a strong platform at the top, before Nicholas Pooran set the evening ablaze with a scorching unbeaten 87 from only 36 balls. His knock propelled LSG to a daunting total of 238 runs. Though Varun Chakaravarthy was economical, he was wicketless. Harshit Rana took two wickets, and Andre Russell contributed one, but both were expensive.
In turn, KKR chased aggressively to start, with Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine getting the ball flying early. Akash Deep got de Kock out early, and Digvesh Rathi sent back Narine shortly after. Venkatesh Iyer and Rahane maintained the momentum with smooth shots, keeping LSG under pressure.
The momentum shifted in the middle overs when LSG responded with rapid exit of Ramandeep Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rahane, and Iyer. When Russell and Rinku Singh tried to mount a late revival, the steep target became too much. Rinku's heroic performance in the last overs was for nought as KKR fell short.
Full credit to LSG captain Rishabh Pant, whose strategic brilliance to slow the game and smart utilization of bowlers in the death overs worked in his favor. He reserved overs for his spinners for the last bit and trusted his pacers to seal the game.
Lucknow Super Giants earned important points and dented KKR's title defense with this victory.
