Despite captain Ajinkya Rahane's half-century and Rinku Singh's brilliant batting, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had to face defeat by four runs in the match against Lucknow Super Giants. Batting first, Lucknow scored 238 runs for three wickets in 20 overs. In reply, KKR's team could only score 234 runs for seven wickets in the stipulated overs. Rahane scored 61 runs with the help of eight fours and two sixes in 35 balls, while Rinku scored an unbeaten 38 runs with the help of six fours and two sixes in 15 balls.

This is Lucknow's third win by the smallest margin in IPL. The interesting thing is that Lucknow has won by a small margin only against KKR. Lucknow won by one run against KKR in 2023, two runs in 2022 and now by four runs. This is KKR's seventh defeat by four runs or less while chasing a target in the IPL, three of which have come against Lucknow.

KKR's efforts went in vain

KKR left no stone unturned to achieve the huge target. This is KKR's highest score while chasing an unsuccessful target. Earlier, it had scored 210 runs for eight wickets against Delhi Capitals in 2020 and 210 runs against Rajasthan Royals in 2022. For Lucknow, Akash Deep took two wickets for 55 runs which is the most expensive spell after Avesh Khan.

Also read: KKR vs LSG: Lucknow made its second highest score of the first innings, Puran surpassed Sehwag-Gayle in this matter

Lucknow reached the top four in the table

With the win against KKR, the Lucknow team has reached the top four in the points table. Lucknow has six points with three wins and two losses in five matches and is currently in fourth place. At the same time, this is Kolkata's third defeat in five matches. KKR has won two matches so far and is in sixth place with four points.

Rahane's half-century

While chasing the target, KKR lost the wicket of Quinton de Kock early who was dismissed after scoring 15 runs. After this, Sunil Narine and Rahane shared a 50+ run partnership for the second wicket. However, Digvesh Rathi broke this partnership by dismissing Narine. Narine returned to the pavilion after scoring 30 runs with the help of four fours and two sixes in 13 balls. Rahane did not stop even after this and he completed his half-century in 26 balls. When Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer were batting, it seemed that KKR might achieve this huge target, but Shardul gave a big blow to KKR by dismissing Rahane.
Rinku made a mark in the last overs
After Rahane's dismissal, KKR's innings faltered and it lost the wickets of Ramandeep (1), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (5), Venkatesh Iyer (45) and Andre Russell (7). After this, it seemed difficult for KKR to achieve the target, but Rinku made a blast in the last overs. KKR needed 24 runs to win in the last over, but the team could score only 20 runs. In this way Lucknow won this match. Harshit Rana returned unbeaten after scoring 10 runs for KKR. For Lucknow, Akash Deep and Shardul Thakur took two wickets each, while Avesh Khan, Digvesh Rathi and Ravi Bishnoi got one wicket each.
Puran-Marsh's explosive innings

Earlier, on the strength of Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh, Lucknow Super Giants set a target of 239 runs for KKR to win. Kolkata won the toss in this match and decided to bowl first, but Lucknow managed to score a big score on the basis of Marsh and Pooran's fiery batting. Marsh scored 81 runs off 48 balls, while Aiden Markram scored 47 runs. Pooran returned unbeaten after scoring 87 runs off 36 balls with the help of seven fours and eight sixes.
Lucknow, who came to bat first after losing the toss, got a great start from Marsh and Markram. Both the batsmen added 99 runs for the first wicket. This partnership was broken by Harshit Rana by dismissing Markram. Markram was close to a half-century but missed it by three runs. After this, Marsh continued his aggressive innings and scored a half-century. After Marsh was out, Puran batted aggressively and scored a fifty in just 21 balls.

Puran stayed till the end but could not complete the century. Abdul Samad scored six runs for Lucknow, while David Miller returned unbeaten after scoring four runs. For KKR, Harshit Rana took two wickets, while Andre Russell got one wicket.