KKR’s Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc were on song on Sunday afternoon at the Eden Gardens, guiding the home team to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2024.
Kolkata Knight Riders returned to winning ways after losing their only game thus far in the previous match (against CSK), while LSG slumped to another defeat, their third in six games.
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Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, KKR got the big fish of opener Quinton de Kock out on ten. Deepak Hooda departed soon after on eight, as LSG was reduced to 39 for two inside the Powerplay.
Captain KL Rahul and the side’s last game hero Ayush Badoni began the rescue act, adding 39 for the third wicket before Andre Russell got KL caught on 39.
The mystery spin duo of Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine picked a wicket each to further dent LSG’s momentum. The travelling team, however, revived their innings, thanks to a brilliant 45-run cameo by Nicholas Pooran, who hit four sixes and two fours.
Starc stood out for the first time this season with three wickets, as LSG managed an under-par total of 161 for seven.
Salt’s show at Eden sees KKR through
England opener and the player in form, Phil Salt, was the show-stopper for the hosts against Lucknow. The right-handed batter began with a flurry of fours upfront before Mohsin Khan removed Narine and Raghuvanshi in quick succession to keep his team in the game.
Joining hands with Captain Shreyas Iyer, Salt switched to top gear and upped the scoring rate and kept KKR’s nose in front in this run chase. The pair looked comfortable against the spin and the seam, slamming each bowler for boundaries at will.
While Iyer played second fiddle to Salt, the overseas batter smoked three sixes and a whopping 14 fours to score an unbeaten 89 and see his team through.
With four wins from five games, KKR is second on the points table with eight points, while LSG is fifth with three wins and as many losses in six matches.
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