IPL 2022: Lucknow Super Giants defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by 75 runs

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), on Saturday, May 7, defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 75 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune.

After electing to field first, Shreyas Iyer’s direct hit accounted for KL Rahul’s wicket in the very first over. But from there on, the Super Giants crawled their way back into the contest and dominated proceedings. Quinton de Kock and Deepak Hooda’s 71-run stand for the second wicket restored sanity for LSG.

De Kock took the attack to the opposition and scored a 29-ball 50 with four fours and three sixes. Hooda’s 41-run knock also injected momentum into the innings. Krunal Pandya and Ayush Badoni got runs, but failed to up the ante in the hour of need.

However, Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder used the long handle to good effect and took the Super Giants to a competitive score. The duo scored a combined tally of 41 runs off 18 balls with one four and five sixes.

Andre Russell was the pick of the KKR bowlers with two crucial



wickets of the dangerous-looking Hooda and Pandya. Sunil Narine was also exceptional, having picked up de Kock’s wicket and giving away only 20 runs at a rate of five per over.

The Knights found themselves in all sorts of trouble in their run-chase after only one of their top five batters got into double digits. Rinku Singh, who played a match-winning knock the other night, couldn’t get going either. Thereafter, Russell came out firing on all cylinders.

The Jamaican took Jason Holder to the cleaners and scored 25 runs in the ninth over. Just when the hulk-like batter was looking dangerous, Avesh Khan induced a false stroke from him. Russell perished after muscling 45 runs off 19 balls with three fours and five sixes.

Once Russell got out, the Knights capitulated and were shot out for 101 in a mere 14.3 overs. Narine’s 12-ball 22 mitigated the damage for the Men in Gold and Purple, but was not good enough for his team to evade a crushing defeat. Avesh Khan and Jason Holder picked up three wickets apiece for LSG.