Match Details
Arya- The target of 177 runs could have been a tricky one for the Kolkata Knight Riders. It was a chase where KKR would have been comfortable chasing that down. However, they were aware of the fact that LSG bowlers have bowled brilliantly in the powerplay and they did continue their resurgence. Baba Aparajith was dismissed in the very first over while Mohsin Khan was unplayable in his first over. Shreyas Iyer kept missing one after the other during that sensational spell.
The pressure finally brought about the downfall of KKR’s skipper as Dushmantha Chameera bounced him out with a well-directed short delivery. KKR lost one more in the powerplay when Aaron Finch top-edged one short delivery from Jason Holder straight down the throat of Quinton de Kock. Nitish Rana couldn’t bid his time in the crease either getting castled by a yorker from Avesh Khan.
From there on, only one man could take KKR beyond the finishing line and that was none other than Andre Russell. He ignited a few hopes as he started smoking sixes after sixes and it all came with so much ease. He literally toyed with the likes of Holder and Chameera while Bishnoi was also clobbered for the longest six of the match. Till he was there, KKR was in the chase but once he was dismissed by Avesh Khan it was a road to far for them.
Eventually, KKR lost three back to back wickets in the 15th over. While Holder bagged the wickets of Sunil Narine and Tim Southee, Harshit Rana was run-out as they tried to steal one extra run. Eventually, they went down by 75 runs. Russell was the top scorer for KKR with a score of 45 runs of just 19 deliveries. For LSG, Avesh Khan and Jason Holder were the pick of the bowlers bagging three wickets each.
Earlier in the day it was KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer who won the toss and put LSG in. They had the worst start as KL Rahul was run out without facing a delivery. That was a big moment in the game but from there on it was Quinton de Kock and Deepak Hooda who settled in and took the KKR bowlers apart especially in the powerplay. Both the batters started off briskly smashing some wonderful blows. QDK timed the ball to perfection before perishing at the hands of Sunil Narine but not before he got his side off to a great start after running out his skipper.
Hooda also looked in great shape and repaid the faith shown in him by the LSG management by batting him at No 3. He made full use of the powerplay and shared a 71 runs stand with QDK. Himanshu Rana went for a few runs which forced Shreyas Iyer to introduce Andre Russell who bagged two wickets. Just when KKR looked like putting a check to the LSG run-flow, it was a 30 runs over of Shivam Mavi which gave LSG the much-needed impetus required to get close to the 180 mark.