Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered a heartbreaking four-run defeat at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Match 21 of the IPL 2025 season at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday (April 8).

Asked to bat first, LSG racked up a mammoth 238/3 on the board, courtesy of brutal half-centuries from Nicholas Pooran (87* off 36) and Mitchell Marsh (81 off 48). Aiden Markram (47 off 28) also made notable contributions with the bat.

The hosts seemed to be in cruise control in their daunting 239-run chase till the 13th over. However, captain Ajinkya Rahane’s dismissal on 61 off 35 balls triggered a collapse and things started to turn in LSG's favour.

While the likes of Venkatesh Iyer (45 off 29), Rinku Singh (38* off 15) returned with quickfire knocks in the middle-order, KKR’s innings was eventually restricted to 234/7 in 20 overs.

As the KKR players were left devastated after a narrow defeat, they received a morale-boosting message from team owner Shah Rukh Khan.

Managing Director of KKR, Venky Mysore read the message out loud which read, "It's a sad loss because we were so close, but so many good things to take away. We can fight and put up a big score… Sometimes our best is not good enough. I think it was one of those days."

“We were only one ball away, one hit away, We should not give up till the end. So let’s move on and take this experience and know this wasn’t in out hand,” the message further read.

During the daunting chase against LSG, KKR did not help their cause by delaying the arrival of Andre Russell and Rinku Singh - two of their biggest hitters.

After the game, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif slammed the defending champions for sending Russel at No.7 and Rinku at No.8.

“KKR needs to avoid taking right-left theory too seriously. When chasing 239, you can't play Rusell at No.7 and Rinku at No. 8. Way too late for your big hitters,” Kaif tweeted.

It was KKR’s third defeat in five games this season. They will next face Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk on Friday (April 11).