Picture : Twitter/ IPL
The Lucknow Super Giants opening duo of Quinton de Kock and Skipper K L Rahul broke several records as they produced a scintillating partnership against the Kolkata Knight riders in the 66th match of the Tata IPL 2022.
The pair powered Lucknow Super Giants to a mammoth 210/0 after LSG skipper K L Rahul after winning the toss decided to bat first . De kock scoring a superb 140 ( 70 balls, 10 fours, 10 sixes) , K L Rahul 68 ( 51 balls, 3 fours , 4 sixes) .
KKR bowlers were sent on a leather hunt : Umesh Yadav 0/34 (4 overs), Tim Southee 0/ 57 ( 4 overs), Sunil Narine 0/ 27 ( 4 overs) , Varun Chakaravarthy 0/ 38 ( 4 overs), Andre Russell 0/ 45 ( 3 overs) , Nitish Rana 0/9 ( 1 over)
The pair recorded the highest partnership for the first wicket in the history of the Indian Premier League. This is the first time in the IPL that an opening partnership was unbroken after a team batted first and completed 20 overs.
This is now the second highest unbeaten partnership in the IPL and the thir highest partnership for any wicket in the tournament.
The record for the highest opening partnership in the Indian Premier League was held by Jonny Bairstow and David Warner, who had added 185 for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019.
Chasing a big total was big ask and KKR stayed in the hunt with Nitish Rana (42) and captain Shreyas Iyer (50), Sam Billings ( 36) but it was too big a task for the lower-order. Big hope Andre Russell fell for ( 5) . KKR innings ended 208 for eight in 20 overs. Sunil Narine (21 not out off) and Rinku Singh (40 off 15) raised hopes of a sensational win.
KKR needed 38 runs off the last two overs and they both brought the equation down to 21 off the final over. Rinku came up with couple of sixes and a four to make it five off the last three balls but he fell to a special one handed catch from Evin Lewis to bring LSG back into the game. With three needed off the final ball, Marcus Stoinis landed a yorker to dismiss Umesh Yadav and help his team clinch a thriller by 2 runs.
For LSG : Mohsin Khan 3/ 23 ( 4 overs), Marcus Stoinis 3/23 ( 4 overs) superb final over, Ravi Bishnoi 1/34 (4 overs), Krishnappa Gowtham 1/ 23 (2 overs) were the wicket-takers .
The loss knocked KKR out of the competition, while LSG, who had lost their last two matches, moved back into the top-two with the win.
