LSG take top spot after ruthless rout of Kolkata
CHANDIGARH: For a brief while Andre Russell was a raging storm. Their backs to the wall, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had slid to a sensational collapse and at 30/4 in 8 overs, the game was all but over.
But this probably pushed Russell to bring out the game that he’s so known for. He picked a Jason Holder over, hitting him for 25 and all of a sudden the mood became sombre in the Lucknow camp. Russell hit two more sixes but it was too much even for him. He fell to Avesh Khan and KKR knew their IPL 15 campaign was as good as over.
In the end, Lucknow wrapped it up with ease winning by 75 runs, the margin of victory being the highest this season. After eight wins and 16 points and in pole position, they have all but sealed a place in the playoffs even with three games left.
Mentored by former KKR captain Gautam Gambhir, Lucknow did little wrong on the night. Skipper KL Rahul fell without facing a ball this time, being run out by Shreyas Iyer, but Quinton de Kock and Deepak Hooda played some astonishing shots, flaying Kolkata bowlers around the Pune stadium. They added a quickfire 71 before de Kock fell for 29-ball 50. Hooda scored 41 off 27 balls.
The middle-order struggled a bit before Marcus Stoinis picked a Shivam Mavi over, the innings’ 19th, that tilted the game Lucknow’s way. Stoinis hit the first three balls for huge sixes over mid-wicket before being caught going for the fourth. Then, Jason Holder hit two more sixes to produce a 30-run over. A total of 176/7 gave Lucknow bowlers enough on the board to make a match out of it.
Kolkata were off to the worst possible start as their top order wilted in the face of spirited fast bowling. Mohsin Khan and Dushmantha Chameera bowled quick and reduced Kolkata to a hapless bunch.
Khan bowled a wicketmaiden first over getting Baba Indrajith dismissed on the last ball. KKR captain Shreyas Iyer fell to Chameera’s pace after making six. Finch too did not last long and was sent packing by Holder. When Avesh Khan got Nitish Rana, Lucknow Super Giants had KKR at 25/4. That was when Russell decided to flex his muscles with a stunning 18-ball knock of 45.
In the end, Avesh Khan and Holder finished with three wickets each under their belt.
Speaking after the game, Iyer said: “They outplayed us in bowling and batting. They
bowled well in the powerplay, they started well with the bat too. We came back in the middle but they took it away from us at the death.
“It was hard to read the wicket, so we chose to bowl. We found out the ball was stopping and the pitch was two-paced. It was a 155-160 wicket, but they
went over that. Powerplay and death are the areas to improve. Hopefully we can get it right next time.”
Brief scores: LSG 176/7 in 20 overs (Q de Kock 50, D Hooda 41; A Russell 2/22). KKR 101 in 14.3 overs (A Russell 45; Avesh Khan 3/19, J Holder 3/31).