Start at run out, end at run out. Lokesh Rahul was run out in the first over of the first innings of the match. The second innings ended with a run out. Lucknow Super Giants also scored a team hat-trick. However, the team left the field with greater satisfaction.
Lucknow, who batted first and scored 165 runs, bowled out Kolkata for 101 runs. With this victory of 85 runs, Lucknow has gone to the top of the points table. Although not on paper, this time the play-off was almost certain for the team. Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders remained at the eighth position with eight points at the seventh rate in 11 matches.
But the match started terribly in Lucknow. It doesn’t start worse than that. Lokesh Rahul’s second highest run in IPL. The Lucknow Super Giants captain has scored 451 runs in the first 10 matches with 2 centuries and 2 fifties. That too on an average of 50. Today he is out for zero runs. However, there is no change in his strike rate. How? Today that Lokesh Rahul has been run out without playing any ball!
Lucknow was flying despite such a big push. Quinton de Kock was not paying attention to anyone, at the other end of the spectators, Deepak Hooda was used as a spectator to cut the bowlers of Kolkata. At the beginning of the sixth over, Lucknow crossed fifty. 6 runs came in the power play. De Cock’s fifty off 26 balls in the seventh over. But Sunil Narine disrupted the run festival. De Cock’s run did not increase. The South African opener returned with 50 runs off 26 balls.
Deepak Huda then took responsibility for the attack. Huda, who had earlier scored 23 off 15 balls, has brought 34 runs with Krunal Pandya. Hooda scored 16 runs off 12 balls. But Pandya made 15 runs from 20 balls at an unusually slow time. Huda returned in the 13th over, leaving the team with 106 runs. The pair of Krunal and Ayush Badoni stopped with 15 runs off 13 balls. Even after the departure of Pandya, who scored 25 off 26 balls, the pace of the run was not increasing. At the end of 16 overs, Lucknow had 142 runs.
Stones and Holder got their hands on Shivam Mavi in the 19th over. It was all in the 19th over. The first four balls of the over were like hitting. Marcus Steinis hit different sides of the first three legs. The fourth ball was also like hitting. But could not hit properly, Shreyas Iyer was caught at the mid-wicket boundary. Mavi’s danger did not abate. Named Jason Holder. The next ball was a six again with a square boundary. The sixth ball flew with a long off. 30 runs and one wicket over!
But the last over did not go well for Lucknow. After losing 2 wickets, Lucknow scored only 4 runs and stopped at 18 runs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Avesh Khan also got the wicket in the seventh over. Nitish Rana returned with 2 runs in a painful innings of 11 balls. After that Kolkata innings has settled down a bit. Rinku Singh and Andre Russell put on 44 runs for the fifth wicket. Rinku’s contribution is 5. Russell made 39 off 16 balls at the other end. Sunil Narine hit a six. But Russell’s innings of 3 fours and 5 sixes in 19 balls stopped at 45 runs.
In the 15th over, Sunil Narine (22) and Tim Southee (0) were out for two consecutive balls by the holder, raising the possibility of a hat-trick. Harshit Rana stopped it but was run out to take three runs! Holder of 3 wickets for 31 runs, Avesh Khan got 3 wickets for 19 runs.
