KOLKATA (West Bengal): Fiery spells from Vaibhav Arora, Shardul Thakur and Sunil Narine helped Kolkata Knight Riders restrict Lucknow Super Giants to 176/8 in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match here at Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Nicholas Pooran scored the highest for LSG with 58 off 30 while Quinton de Kock played a knock of 28 runs. For KKR, Vaibhav, Shardul and Narine bagged two wickets haul respectively.
Opting to field first, KKR bowlers breathed fire as their bowler Harshit Rana dismissed LSG opener Karan Sharma for 3 in the third over of the game. Vaibhav Arora then joined the wicket-taking party as he dismissed dangerous man Marcus Stoinis and Prerak Mankad in the 7th over of the game.
Experienced spinner Sunil Narine then spun his web and claimed the wicket of LSG captain Krunal Pandya for 9 runs in the 10th over of the innings.
It did not take long for Varun Chakaravarthy to join wicket taking party as he dismissed Quinton de Kock for 28.
The left-handed batter Nicholas Pooran then came out to bat and slammed Chakaravarthy for two back-to-back fours and one six in the 11th over of the innings, gathering 15 runs.
Pooran kept piling runs for his team while slamming KKR bowlers all around the ground. With his powerful shots, Pooran pulled his team back into the match and kept the scoreboard ticking.
Pooran stitched up a 50-run crucial partnership with Ayush Badoni. Sunil Narine broke the 74-run partnership stand as he removed Badoni for 25.
Pooran then brought his half-century in 28 balls with a huge six in the 19th over. Shardul Thakur then delivered a stunning ball to dismiss well-set batter Pooran for 58 in the same over he bowled out Ravi Bishnoi for 2.
In the last over, LSG batter Krishnappa Gowtham gathered 13 runs and took his team’s total to 176/8 in 20 overs.
Brief score: Lucknow Super Giants 176/8 (Nicholas Pooran 58, Quinton de Kock 28; Vaibhav Arora 2-30) vs Kolkata Knight Riders. (ANI)