Quinton de Kock stroked a magnificent half-century to lead Lucknow Super Giants to a 75-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in their Tata Indian Premier League match at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Saturday night.
De Kock dominated the PowerPlay, scoring 50 from 29 balls, a score that gave LSG a solid platform to build on.
Lucknow scored 176 for seven in their 20 overs, a total which their bowlers, led by Avesh Khan, defended with ease.
The Super Giants bowlers needed only 14.3 overs to bowl out KKR for a mere 101 runs.
Lucknow stumbled early on after being asked to bat first by KKR captain, Shreyas Iyer.
In what can only be described as a horror start, LSG captain KL Rahul was dismissed by a diamond duck in the first over. A yes-no situation between Rahul and De Kock in the middle of the crease gave Shreyas Iyer enough time to aim for the stumps before Rahul could make it back to his crease.
A belligerent De Kock, who was racing at a strike rate of 191.66 during the first six overs, more than made up for running out his captain and opening partner by bludgeoning four boundaries and three sixes as he led Luknow to a PowerPlay score of 66 for one.
The Proteas star brought up his third half-century of the season in the next over but was unfortunate to only face a couple more deliveries before his dismissal. De Kock flat-batted a Sunil Narine delivery straight to Shivam Dube at long-off.
Deepak Hooda carried on from where De Kock left off. The 27-year-old took control of the innings, allowing his partner, Krunal Pandya, to settle in.
Unfortunately for LSG, Hooda failed to convert his start into a half-century as he fell to Andre Russell’s bowling for a well-played 41 off 27.
Russell, who kept a tight lid on proceedings, took his second wicket in the 15th over when he dismissed Krunal Pandya for 25 runs off 27 deliveries. Pandya simply failed to emulate the aggression with which De Kock and Hooda had played.
After a slow start, Marcus Stoinis gave the innings some impetus when he smashed 18 off three balls in the 19th over. The big Australian allrounder fell to Shivam Mavi attempting to go for a fourth six. He holed out to Iyer at the boundary.
Stoinis scored 28 from 14.
Stoinis’s replacement, Jason Holder, completed what Stoinis had started by hitting two sixes off the last two deliveries of the over.
However, Holder’s innings was short and sweet. The West Indies star was soon back in the dressing-room, dismissed for a handy four-ball 13.
Two balls later, Dushmantha Chameera was run-out trying to run on the last ball of the innings.
Andre Russell was KKR’s most successful bowler with two wickets from four overs at an economy of 7.33. Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi and Sunil Narine all took a wicket each.
Russell Blitz Besides a blitzkrieg by Andre Russell and a cameo by Sunil Narine, the Kolkata batters did not turn up to the contest. LSG’s bowlers were so dominant that they bowled two wicket maidens in seven overs.
KKR have chopped and changed openers this season. The Kolkata side has used five different opening partnerships in their search for the elusive perfect opening duo.
Today’s opening pair of Aaron Finch and Baba Indrajith was probably the worst. Indrajith faced a tough first over against Mohsin Khan and was dismissed for a six-ball duck.
KKR faced eight balls, the most by any team in the tournament so far, before scoring their first runs.
Mohsin and Chameera gave away very little in the first four overs, and their excellent line and length led to the wicket of KKR captain Shreyas Iyer who had to depart for six off nine. KKR were 11 for two after four overs.
Ayush Badoni, who took the first two catches, almost took a sensational third catch to dismiss Finch in the fifth over. Fortunately for Finch, the ball just eluded Badoni’s hands.
Aaron Finch was the next man to head back to the dressing-room in the PowerPlay. The Australian scored a laboured run-a-ball 14 before he fell to Holder’s bowling.
KKR were marooned on 35 for three after the PowerPlay – their lowest PowerPlay score this season.
The freefall continued unabated when Avesh Khan dismissed Nitesh Rana for an 11-ball two runs. Twenty-eight-year-old Rana just never got going before Avesh Khan uprooted his middle stump.
KKR’s batters struggled so much that they waited until the ninth over for the side to register their first six of the innings. The six came off Russell’s bat. And it was followed by another one the next ball. Russell plundered 25 runs off that over.
Rinku Singh, who enjoyed a front-row seat to the Dre Russ show as Andre Russell scored the bulk of the runs of their 44-run partnership, departed for six runs off 10 balls.
The Russell blitz ended in the 13th over when the West Indies star was dismissed by Khan for an excellent 45 off 19. Russell’s dismissal snuffed whatever hope of a comeback anyone in the KKR camp might have had.
Khan made it two in one over when he dismissed Ankul Roy two balls later. Russell’s countryman, Sunil Narine departed in the 14th over after a 12-ball cameo that yielded 22 runs. Tim Southee was hot on Narine’s heels as Holder made it two wickets in two balls.
Holder was unable to claim a hat-trick but had a hand in Harshit Rana’s run-out. Holder dislodged the bails following a timely throw from Badoni.
Khan was LSG’s most successful bowler with three wickets from four overs at an economy of 6.33. Holder also took three wickets in his four overs, but at a higher economy rate of 12.40 runs an over.