Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were defeated by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by four runs in the 21st match of the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025) at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
Chasing a daunting 239 runs set by LSG, KKR launched their innings with Quinton de Kock’s (15 runs off 9 balls) and Sunil Narine’s (30 runs off 13 balls) explosiveness. LSG’s Akash Deep opened the bowling, but his first over was a gift, starting with five wides and six from Narine, leaking 16 runs.
Shardul Thakur followed, only to be plundered for 15 more runs with de Kock swatting the ball for a six and Narine edging two consecutive fours.
The tone was set, but Akash Deep struck back in the third over, trapping de Kock lbw after Rishabh Pant's bold review paid off with ball-tracking showing three reds.
KKR raced to 90 runs for 1 wicket by the powerplay’s end, with Narine and Ajinkya Rahane (61 runs off 35 balls) continuing the onslaught, striking over 15 an over despite the early jolt.
Digvesh Rathi, introduced in the seventh over, snared Narine, who was caught at long-off, leaving KKR at 91 runs for 2 wickets. At the 10-over mark, KKR stood at 129 runs for the loss of 2 wickets.
Venkatesh Iyer (45 runs off 29 balls) came to bat at No. 4 for KKR. He was aggressive in his intent, extending his good form from the last game. Rahane, on the other end, was equally destructive. He found gaps at regular intervals and accumulated boundaries. KKR’s captain brought up his fifty in 26 balls with a four off Avesh Khan in the 11th over.
Iyer struck two fours in the 12th over off Digvesh as the asking hovered around 11. However, Shardul brought LSG back into the contest, sending Rahane back to the dressing room off a full toss in the 13th over.
Ravi Bishnoi showed the exit door to Ramandeep Singh (1 run off 2 balls) in the next over, giving LSG a major edge in the match.
Wickets continued to tumble. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (5 runs off 4 balls), who was in red form, became the latest to fall.
In the 16th over, Akash Deep took the most important wicket of Iyer. From 162 runs for 2 wickets, KKR was reduced to 178 runs for 6 wickets, with their hopes of chasing the target diminishing with every wicket.
Playing only his second ball, Andre Russell (7 runs off 4 balls) hammered Akash for a six as KKR continued to put up a fight. However, the excitement also lasted for a brief period as Shardul dismissed Russell on the first ball of the 17th over.
Now, only Rinku Singh (38 runs off 15 balls) could have done it for KKR, but it would not have been possible without support from the other end.
KKR needed 45 runs off the last overs with three wickets in their hands. Rinku brought the equation to 24 runs off six balls, smashing Avesh for two fours and a six. The final over bowled by Bishnoi started with a four and ended with a six, but it was not enough.
KKR eventually finished at 234 runs for 7 wickets and lost by four runs to LSG.
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