The pitch was a belter, can’t be anything else after 472 runs and 25 sixes were scored off it across both innings. But that’s not the story. It is the way the Kolkata Knight Riders fell to a narrow four-run loss against the Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens, despite rocketing off to a vigorous chase, that was bewildering.
After the Super Giants posted 238/3, courtesy Mitchell Marsh’s typically dominant 81 off 48 balls and a Nicholas Pooran blitzkrieg (unbeaten 36-ball 87), the Knights responded with Ajinkya Rahane (61 off 35 balls) and Sunil Narine (30 off 13 balls) unleashing the big shots. But at the end of their 20 overs, the home team were left painfully close to a victory, finishing on 234/7.
A post-mortem of the loss reveals the Knights’ inability to milk the middle overs as the main reason for the defeat. The Super Giants were 59/0 after their first six Powerplay overs. At that stage, the Knights were far ahead at 90/1, scoring at 15 runs per over. In the last five overs, the visitors made 68 runs, while the Knights got 61. But from overs 7-15, while the Super Giants plundered 111 runs, the Knights could only accumulate 83 and also lost four wickets in that phase. That made the difference.
LSG player Marsh celebrates after his half century during KKR vs LSG IPL cricket match at Eden Gardens on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Picture by Sanat Kr Sinha
Why were they slow in that phase? Narine got out off the second ball of the seventh over and Venkatesh Iyer walked in. Rahane and Venkatesh were initially doing decently, but once the captain was dismissed in the 13th over, the next two overs fetched the Knights only 11 runs, and they lost two wickets as well. The pressure got to Venkatesh, who succumbed in the 16th over. The run rate never picked up thereafter, and despite a late charge from Rinku Singh, who hit six fours and two sixes in the last two overs, the target eluded the Knights. It was their third loss in five matches.
Bowling contrasts
In the first half of the game, the KKR bowlers were wayward right through and couldn’t bowl according to the field set by captain Rahane. On the other hand, spinner Digvesh Rathi (1/33) made an impact once again for the Super Giants, not conceding a single six in this game of sixes. Even Varun Chakravarthy was hit for two maximums.
Force & timing
While Jamaican Andre Russell was a big flop for KKR, Trinidadian Pooran was breathtaking for the Super Giants. Of course, Marsh and Aiden Markram (47 off 28 balls) had set it up for Pooran to unleash his fury on the Knights, but the left-hander’s relentless hitting was extraordinary.
A brilliantly timed flick off Russell that sailed over deep square leg was picture-perfect. That over, 18th of the innings, cost the Knights 24 runs and helped Pooran complete 150 sixes in the IPL.
