IMAGES from the IPL match between KKR and LSG at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday
Lucknow Super Giants held their nerve in a high-octane, high-scoring contest to edge past Kolkata Knight Riders by four runs in a pulsating IPL encounter at Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
On a night dominated by batting fireworks, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane rolled back the years with a reinvented, power-packed 61 off 35 balls, nearly pulling off KKR's highest-ever run chase.
But LSG's spin attack, led by Ravi Bishnoi and Digvesh Rathi, applied the brakes just in time to seal a thrilling win limiting them to 234/7.
LSG jumped to fourth spot with six points after their third win, while KKR remained on four points at sixth place.
Earlier, Mitchell Marsh (81 off 39) continued his sensational form with a fourth fifty of the season, while Nicholas Pooran launched a brutal assault with a 21-ball half-century, finishing unbeaten on 87 (not out), as LSG piled up their second-highest IPL total -- 238/3 -- after being put in to bat.
Rahane, usually known for his timing and elegance, stunned the LSG bowlers with audacious strokeplay.
In a transformed avatar, he tore into the Indian pace attack -- Akash Deep (43 in 3 overs), Shardul Thakur (30 in 2 overs), and Avesh Khan (17 in 1 over) -- setting up KKR's best-ever powerplay score since 2017, racing to 90/1.
Rahane's sparkling knock ended against the run of play, falling victim to Shardul Thakur's wide-ball ploy.
After sending down five wides in the over, a frustrated Rahane chased a wide delivery and gifted a simple catch to Nicholas Pooran at cover. Incidentally, LSG bowled 20 wides in a tactical strategy that seemed to have worked in the end.
His transformed innings had put KKR firmly in control.
At 162/3 in 13 overs, KKR were cruising with a current run rate of 12.46, comfortably ahead of the required 11 per over, needing just 77 off 42 balls.
But Rahane's dismissal stalled the momentum and triggered a collapse as KKR lost four wickets for just 15 runs, slipping to 177/6 in 15.2 overs.
LSG struck four times in as many overs as the boundaries dried up -- KKR went 13 balls without a four or six.
Ravi Bishnoi removed Ramandeep Singh in the next over — a surprising promotion ahead of the in-form Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rinku Singh. The decision backfired.
Raghuvanshi too fell soon after, undone by a clever low yorker from Avesh Khan.
Attempting a reverse ramp, he only managed to lob a simple catch to Rishabh Pant, leaving KKR suddenly wobbling.
Avesh Khan leaked 14 runs in the penultimate over but Ravi Bishnoi managed to hold his nerve and defend 24 runs in the last over despite Rinku Singh's presence at the crease.
Left-arm spinner Digvesh Rathi, a find of the season for LSG, impressed again with 1/33, including the prized wicket of Sunil Narine -- his idol -- off his very first ball.
His very first ball against Narine (30 off 13) had the Trinidadian mistiming a slash straight to long-off.
Aiden Markram completed the catch as Rathi, already under the scanner for his 'notebook' celebration (three demerit points), reprised it -- this time writing on the Eden grass.
Earlier, Mitchell Marsh smashed his fourth fifty of the season while Nicholas Pooran blasted a 21-ball half-century as Lucknow Super Giants' top-order made light work of Kolkata Knight Riders' attack to post a mammoth 238/3.
On a sweltering afternoon with a real feel of 40°C, LSG's opening pair of Aiden Markram (47 off 28; 4x4, 2x6) and Marsh (81 off 48; 6x4, 5x6) gave them a blazing start, adding 99 runs off just 62 balls after being put in to bat.
Pooran then lit up the evening with his 36-ball unbeaten 87, studded with seven fours and eight sixes, to power them to their second highest IPL total.
The lefthander cleverly targeted the short leg-side boundary from the dressing room end, and smashed Harshit Rana for two massive sixes over the leg-side to start the 17th over -- regaining the Orange Cap from Marsh in the process.
Such was the domination that LSG reached 95 without loss at the halfway stage and then added 143 in the last 10 overs with Pooran leading the carnage.
It was a clinical batting performance from LSG's top-three. Markram's early impetus, Marsh's consistency, and Pooran's finishing fireworks left KKR completely outclassed on their preferred dry and sticky wicket.
Markram was the early aggressor, plundering Spencer Johnson for 18 runs in his second over. He lofted two fours and a six off successive deliveries.
KKR's most economical bowler, Vaibhav Arora, began impressively with a tight off-stump line, conceding just eight runs in his first two overs but found little support from the other end.
KKR turned to Varun Chakravarthy in the fifth over to stem the flow of run. He initially applied the brakes, conceding just 16 runs from his first three overs. But with both openers well set, the breakthrough never came.
Marsh was particularly fluent, working the gaps with ease, while Markram powered his way to 47 before Harshit Rana finally broke the stand in the 11th over with an off-cutter that rattled the stumps.
But if KKR hoped for respite, Pooran had other ideas. The left-hander launched a brutal assault, racing to his third IPL fifty in just 21 balls as he toyed with the KKR bowlers.
Marsh and Pooran added 71 runs off 30 balls for the second wicket, before the Australian fell to Rana after completing his fifty in 36 balls.
But Pooran ensured the momentum never dipped, smashing Varun for a six and four in the 14th over -- the spinner's most expensive of the evening — which went for 16 runs.
In the middle overs, LSG plundered 75 runs, setting themselves up for a huge total.
KKR's bowlers had little to offer on their traditionally slow and dry surface.
Varun finished with 0/31, while Johnson was taken apart for 46 runs in his three. Sunil Narine, too, was expensive, leaking 33 from his three overs without a wicket.
Arora remained KKR's standout bowler, conceding just 35 runs from his four overs, but lacked support from the rest.
Andre Russell, usually deployed as a partnership-breaker, came on only in the 16th over in a baffling decision but by then LSG had made 170.
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