Sunil Narine shines with the ball. Andre Russell was explosive with the bat. Nevertheless, its poor record in the Powerplay continued to haunt Kolkata Knight Riders as it fell to a crushing defeat against Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL on Saturday.
A 75-run win at the MCA Stadium propelled the Super Giants to the top while the Knight Riders suffered a major blow to their playoff hopes.
Entering the game with the worst batting powerplay record, Knight Riders will be hoping to survive the first six overs in search of a target of at least 177 from their top three. But the batsmen worked against the Super Giants’ pace quartet.
Mohsin Khan, Dushmantha Chameera and Jason Holder were too hot to tackle up front. Left-arm Mohsin starts with a wicket maiden to set the tone. Chameera whacked Shreyas Iyer with a short-ball move and Holder adopted the same tactic to watch Aaron Finch’s back to leave Knight Riders for 25 for three at the end of the powerplay.
When Avesh Khan forced Nitish Rana to play at the stumps in the next over, the game was sealed.
Russell on attack
Then came the Russell attack, which gave the 17,000-strong crowd something to cheer about. But five sixes from West Indies – including three in a holder over – were not enough for the Knight Riders.
And when a diving holder caught the skier in the 13th over to send Russell back to Avesh, it was the last nail.
Earlier, Knight Riders tasted instant success after opting to bowl. Super Giants captain KL Rahul was run out without facing any ball in the opening over due to a straight delivery from Shreyas. But Quinton de Kock – guilty of sending Rahul back for a quick single – didn’t let the incident affect him. Whatever was cut short was sent between square-leg and mid-wicket, along the ground or into the arch over the fence.
At the other end, Deepak Hooda played some great cover drives. Despite scoring just two runs in the opening over, the Super Giants scored 66 for one in six overs. Though the Knight Riders pulled things back, conceding just 76 runs in the next 12 overs, Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder hit five sixes off Shivam Mavi in the 19th over to tilt the balance in favor of the Super Giants.