Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) became the third team to advance to the play-off stages of the ongoing IPL 2023 after they beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in a thrilling contest. It was Match No. 68 of the tournament, which was played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday, May 20.
With their gut-wrenching 1-run loss, KKR ended their IPL 2023 campaign on seventh spot in the points table.
After being put in to bat first, LSG made 176/8 in their stipulated 20 overs. Nicholas Pooran made another crucial contribution with his 58-run knock, while Quinton de Kock, Prerak Mankad and Ayush Bandoni also chipped in with 20s.
In their hunt for 177, KKR began superbly. Openers Jason Roy and Venkatesh Iyer added 61 runs for the first wicket, scoring 45 and 24, respectively.
However, LSG spinners then spub a web around the KKR batters and kept inflicting blows regularly. Ravi Bishnoi was impressive during his two-wicket haul, while skipper Krunal Pandya and Krishnappa Gowtham took one wicket apiece.
With Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Shardul Thakur all falling cheaply, the onus fell on Rinku Singh to do his magic. The left-hander almost pulled off another sensational run-chase for KKR but fell just one run short agonizingly.
He made a quick-fire 33-ball 67* but all his efforts went in vain as Yash Thakur (2/31) defended 21 runs in the last over to send LSG through to the Eliminator.
IPL 2023 Orange Cap updated list
With his sensational batting in the second innings, Rinku Singh entered top 10 list of highest run-getters in the tournament. Rinku, who had 407 runs prior to the Saturday's clash, scored 67 runs and has ended his IPL 2023 tally with 474 runs at an immaculate average and strike rate of 59.2 and 149.5, respectively.
Scoring 25 runs against LSG, Venkatesh Iyer ended his campaign with 404 runs at an average of 28.8 and stands at 13th place on the Orange Cap list.
Marcus Stoinis, meanwhile, registered a duck against KKR but is still his side's highest run-getter so far with 368 runs.
IPL 2023 Purple Cap updated list
Varun Chakravarthy entered the 20-wicket club when he dismissed Quinton de Kock on Saturday and is now at fifth spot in the Purple Cap list. The mystery spinner took 20 wickets across 14 innings for KKR this season.
Ravi Bishnoi, meanwhile, continued to rise on the standings and is now at the 11th place, having taken 16 wickets in just 13 innings.
The two joint-highest wicket-takers this season, Mohammed Shami and Rashid Khan, will be in action on Sunday when their side Gujarat Titans (GT) will lock horns with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Bengaluru.
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