KKR vs LSG: Lucknow Super Giants Edge Out Kolkata Knight Riders By One Run To Seal IPL 2023 Playoff Berth
NDTV
IPL 2023: Lucknow Super Giants defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by one run in their final league game to qualify for the IPL play-offs at Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Lucknow Super Giants survived a late Rinku Singh onslaught to secure a thrilling one-run win and seal their second successive play-offs berth in the Indian Premier League at Eden Gardens on Saturday. Pooran held the LSG innings together with a counter-attacking 30-ball 58 (4x4, 5x6) to propel them to a fighting 176/8 after being invited to bat. Chasing 177 for a win, Rinku threatened to pull off yet another last over win for KKR with a ruthless 67 not out from 33 balls (6x4, 4x6) as he waged a lone battle. But it was not enough in the end as KKR ended at 175 for 7 to lose the match by one run.
With 12 points from 14 matches, KKR were out of play-offs contention.
The left-handed Rinku smashed Naveenul-Haq for three fours and one six in a 20-run penultimate over to bring up his fifty in 27 balls.
KKR needed 21 runs off the last over bowled by Yash Thakur (2/12) but they could score only 19 as Rinku hit two sixes and a four.
LSG thus finished third in the table with 17 points from 14 matches, sealing a back-to-back play-offs berth. Chennai Super Kings also ended with 17 points from 14 matches but they took the second spot with a better net run rate of +0.652 as against +0.284 of LSG.