Even after a poor decision against opener Finn Allen and playing as many as 43 dot balls, Kolkata Knight Riders were in control of the game, thanks to their bowlers. But little did they know what would transpire in the end.
Playing his maiden IPL season, young Mukul Choudhary came up with a blinder (54 not out off 27 balls) out of nowhere to help the Lucknow Super Giants record a remarkable come-from-behind three-wicket win at Eden Gardens on Thursday, leaving the Knight Riders stunned.
An unbroken 70-run partnership between Cameron Green, who finally started bowling in this game, and Rovman Powell had pushed the Knights’ total to 181/4 after the Super Giants won the toss and opted to bowl first. Thereafter, Impact Player Vaibhav Arora, left-arm spinner Anukul Roy and even Green — who took the key wicket of Lucknow skipper Rishabh Pant with a slow, short ball — struck at regular intervals to almost shut the door on the Super Giants.
But Choudhary broke open all barriers with his clean hits. The few Super Giants fans who had assembled at the Eden, including Mohun Bagan Super Giant’s Jamie Maclaren and Dimitri Petratos, couldn’t have been happier.
Steely resolve
Yes, KKR did look a tad complacent after taking the seventh Lucknow wicket, but Choudhary, the 21-year-old from Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan), roped in at ₹2.60 crore at the auction last December, hadn’t given up yet.
With 14 needed in the last over for victory, Choudhary brought the equation down to seven off four with a six off the second ball. But Vaibhav bounced back to bowl back-to-back dot balls. But Choudhary smacked a six (his seventh) over deep extra cover off the penultimate delivery of the over. With 1 run needed off the last ball, he couldn’t connect, but nevertheless stole a single with Avesh Khan in tow.
Some credit also needs to go to LSG’s Impact Player Ayush Badoni (54) and Shami’s economical bowling.