Lucknow Super Giants Steal A Last Ball Thriller To Qualify For Playoffs

Lucknow Super Giants steal a last ball thriller against Kolkata Knight Riders to qualify for the IPL 2022 playoffs.

Match 66 of the IPL 2022 came down to the last ball and ended in favor of Lucknow Super Giants as they managed to win the game by two runs to eliminate Kolkata Knight Riders and officially qualify for the IPL 2022 playoffs. 

Chasing a mammoth target of 211, KKR had a poor start as they lost both openers - Venkatesh Iyer and Abhijeet Tomar - in the first three overs. But Nitish Rana and Shreyas Iyer decided not to slow down and smacked 56 runs in 27 balls for the third wicket. Knight Riders scored 60 runs inside the powerplay. 

Rana hit 42 in 22 balls with the help of nine fours before getting out in the eighth over. Sam Billings continued the momentum with Shreyas as the two added another 66 runs in 40 balls to keep KKR in the hunt. Iyer scored 50 in 29 balls including four fours and three sixes. Billings hit 36 in 24 balls with the help of two fours and three sixes. 

Russell had an off game as he only scored 5 in 11 balls and his wicket in the 17th over looked like closed doors for KKR. But then came Rinku Singh and Sunil Narine and almost pull the match off with their 58-run stand in just 19 balls. 

With KKR needing 21 in the last over, Rinku smacked 4,6,6,2 off Marcus Stoinis to get the total down to three from two balls. On the penultimate ball, Rinku attempted another hit but Evin Lewis grabbed a one-handed stunner in the deep to get him out. On the last ball, Stoinis nailed a perfect yorker to uproot Umesh Yadav's stumps and win the match for LSG. 

Earlier, Lucknow Super Giants scored 210 runs without losing a wicket in the first inning courtesy of Quinton de Kock's unbeaten 140 and KL Rahul's fifty in a supporting role. 

Opting to bat first, LSG began slowly as they only scored 44 runs in the powerplay. de Kock was also dropped early in the inning off Umesh Yadav's delivery but never looked back after that. 

de Kock smacked every bowler all around the ground. He even reached his century with a reverse sweep and kept on hitting till the last ball. During his mammoth 140-run knock, de Kock hit 10 sixes and 10 fours. 

KL Rahul supported him well with his 68 off 51 balls. He hit three fours and four sixes in his support role as LSG reached 210/0. 

Brief Scorecard: 

Lucknow Super Giants - 210/0 (Quinton de Kock - 140, KL Rahul - 68)
Kolkata Knight Riders - 208/8 (Shreyas Iyer - 50; Mohsin Khan - 3/20)