Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) clashed in Match 68 of the IPL 2023 on Saturday (May 20) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. KKR needed a mammoth win to stay in contention, while LSG came into the contest requiring a win by any margin to qualify for the playoffs.
KKR captain Nitish Rana opted to bowl first after winning the toss. LSG were in deep trouble at 73/5 in 10.1 overs when Nicholas Pooran joined Ayush Badoni in the middle. Pooran struck a brilliant 30-ball 58, while Badoni contributed 25 as LSG finished their innings strongly at 176/8. Vaibhav Arora, Shardul Thakur and Sunil Narine took two wickets apiece.
LSG had to restrict KKR to 79 or less to secure a top two finish on the points table, which couldn't materialize but their bowlers, particularly the spinners Krunal Pandya, Krishnappa Gowtham and Ravi Bishnoi did a fine job to control the game. Only opener Jason Roy with 45 could get going at the top as rest of the batters failed to make an impression until Rinku Singh's arrival at the crease.
Rinku, who has caught everyone's attention with his remarkable performances this season, once again nearly pulled off a miraculous win for KKR, who needed 41 off the last two overs with three wickets in hand. Rinku brought the equation down to 21 off the final over after taking 20 runs off Naveen-ul-Haq.
With 18 needed off the last three balls in Yash Thakur's last over, Rinku scored six, four, six as LSG managed a win by the narrowest margin of 1 run to book their playoffs spot. The southpaw's unbeaten 67 in 33 balls went in vain but once again won hearts with his valiant knock under pressure.
The cricketing world reacted to LSG's qualification and appreciated the effort of Rinku Singh to take the game so close. Here are some of the tweets:
