Cricket

'Made us hop out of our seats'- Lucknow survive Rinku scare to beat Kolkata in nailbiting thriller

Lucknow beat Kolkata by two runs in the 66th match of the Indian T20 League 2022. Here is how Twitter reacted to the game.

author-image
Rennie
New Update
KL Rahul- Quinton de Kock

KL Rahul- Quinton de Kock (Image source- BCCI/IPL)

Lucknow beat Kolkata by two runs in the 66th match of the Indian T20 League 2022. A brilliant opening partnership for Lucknow set the perfect platform for a great game. Post that, the bowling unit also made sure that the team ends up winning. They eventually won the match despite Rinku Singh's scare. With the victory, Lucknow qualified for the playoffs, thereby eliminating Kolkata from contention.

Lucknow won the toss and decided to bat first at the DY Patil Stadium. KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock looked in great touch right from the start. A dropped catch of De Kock in the third over, however, gave him a second life. The southpaw then made the most out of this opportunity. He was playing the attacking game, and Kl Rahul gave him the perfect support. The two added 44 runs in the powerplay.

Post that, De Kock pushed down the pedal to accelerate the innings, while the captain held fort at other end. De Kock went berserk after completing his half century and smashed Kolkata bowlers to all parks. The pair added 210 runs in the entire 20 overs.

This was the best opening partnership in the Indian T20 League's history. De Kock hit 140 runs off 70 balls, including ten fours and ten sixes. On the other hand, KL Rahul hit 68 runs in 51 balls. Kolkata's problems continued in the chase, as they lost two wickets early on. Nitish Rana and Shreyas Iyer tried to get some quick runs as they guided the team to 60 runs in the powerplay. However, Rana (42) fell soon after that for a team score of 65 in 7.1 overs. They added 56 runs in the partnership.

To keep their hopes alive, Iyer and Sam Billings formed another crucial partnership. They scored a few boundaries, and Iyer (50) reached his half-century. However, he was dismissed on the next ball in the 14th over. Billings (36) also lost his wicket soon in the 16th over. With Andre Russell and Rinku Singh in the middle, the equation came down to 67 runs in the last four overs.

The following two overs yielded 29 runs but delivered the crucial wicket of Andre Russell. Jason Holder bowled the 19th over and gave away 17 runs. Kolkata needed 21 runs in the final over. Singh (40) brilliantly scored 18 runs in four balls, but Marcus Stoinis retained his composure to grab two wickets in the final two balls to take his team over the line.

Here is how Twitter reacted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indian Premier League 2023 Indian T20 League Kolkata Lucknow ITL 2022