IPL 2024: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Lucknow Super Giants, 28th Match - Who Said What?

Kolkata Knight Riders managed to get back to the winning ways as they defeated Lucknow Super Giants by eight wickets at Eden Gardens. After winning three matches on the trot, the two-time champions suffered a defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings in the last match but against LSG, they stepped up their game and got the job done pretty comfortably.

Batting first, LSG never looked comfortable. After a good first over, Quinton de Kock got out in the second over of the match as Vaibhav Arora gave the breakthrough. On the other hand, KL Rahul continued to struggle with his strike rate as the captain made 39 runs off 27 deliveries in the end. Ayush Badoni, who was fantastic in the last match, couldn’t impress against KKR spinners and the responsibility once again fell on Nicholas Pooran’s shoulder.

Also Read - KKR vs LSG: Ramandeep Singh pulls of a stunner to dismiss Deepak Hooda

Pooran made 45 runs off 32 deliveries, which helped Lucknow post 161 runs on the board. Mitchell Starc, who was criticised a lot ahead of the match for his poor bowling, picked up three wickets while Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy were incredible in the middle overs. Narine didn’t concede a single boundary in the match, which is impressive, to say the least.

When it came to the chase, Shamar Joseph leaked a lot of runs in the first over, which gave KKR a lot of momentum. Even though Narine couldn’t deliver with the ball, his opening partner Phil Salt was incredible as he smashed his second half-century of the season. He ended up scoring 89* runs off 47 deliveries while Shreyas Iyer supported him with his 38* runs off 38 balls as the duo stitched a 120-run partnership to guide the team to an eight-wicket victory.

Talking Points

1. Vintage Sunil Narine dominates LSG

Ahead of the season, there were a lot of talks about Sunil Narine - whether the franchise should retain him or if the player has still got it. Narine shut them up with multiple impressive performances and the evening against LSG at Eden Gardens was no different. The veteran all-rounder gave away just 17 runs in his four overs and picked up the wicket of Ayush Badoni. He didn’t concede a single boundary in the match, which is unbelievable in modern-day cricket.

2. Lacklustre LSG heavily depends on Pooran

It has been a trend for LSG this season. Apart from their last match against Delhi Capitals, the franchise has been heavily dependent on Nicholas Pooran. The match against KKR was no different. Skipper KL Rahul needs to put up strong performances like he is known for while Quinton de Kock needs to be more consistent along with Ayush Badoni and Marcus Stoinis. The team needs to understand that Pooran cannot take them home every single time.

3. Salt's blitzkrieg vs Iyer's conservative approach

Phil Salt once again played an explosive innings and in the end, helped KKR pick up another two points but Iyer’s performance is something that needs to be monitored. On one end, Salt was hitting for fun but on the other, Iyer played multiple dot balls, which could’ve put KKR under pressure, had the target been 200+. The skipper needs to work on his strike rate but Salt’s form should give the team a lot of hope for the remaining matches.

Losing skipper KL Rahul said:

One of those days, it was a proper hammering. Games like these are tough to digest and we have seen in IPL and every team goes through that. We will try and work out what went wrong and come back better. The ball started nipping around a lot more in the second innings, the shots that we played in the first innings, didn't execute well and kept losing wickets in bunches and we could have got a lot more runs and that's where we missed and lost the game. He (Shamar Joseph) is bowling pretty quick, Shamar was very excited and wanted to bowl fast, sprayed it around a little bit but that happens when you are playing your first game in the IPL. He needs to work on consistency in line and length, obviously got the ball to swing and seam around in the powerplay. Not panicking (about back-to-back losses), need to figure out where we went wrong and the last couple of games we haven't been able to get past 160 and that's something we want to see and be better at it.

Winning skipper Shreyas Iyer said:

Pretty much comprehensive victory. Fielded well and bowled well. Was important to bowl slower ones as much as possible because of the heat and the wicket becoming dry. We executed phenomenally well. When we got wickets, it gave us the advantage to come in and put an attacking effort. Character and attitude bowlers showed was exceptional. Will keep reiterating that it's a funny tournament and have to stay in the present as much as possible. Have to seize the moment and not leave it on someone else.

POTM Phil Salt said:

Said to Swanny before the game, I felt I was melting. Good to get another win home. Before the lights came on, it was a bit slower. After lights came on, there was some moisture and it quickened up. I've loved it (his time here). Got some great overseas players, some great coaches. GG is back in the fold which is great. Not much running today (his boundary hitting).