For most of Sunday, Shah Rukh Khan kept himself perched inside the Kolkata Knight Riders' corporate box in block 'B' of Eden Gardens. He made an appearance in the balcony at the end of the 15th over to strike his signature pose only once victory was confirmed.
The KKR principal owner has brought luck to the team in all the three matches he has been at the ground, two at the Eden and one in Visakhapatnam. Having arrived in the city on Saturday night itself, he is expected to be around during their next home encounter against Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday.
The Knights desperately needed a win against Lucknow Super Giants following the loss to Chennai Super Kings in their previous match and achieved it in clinical fashion. More than the eight-wicket victory with 26 balls remaining, it was Mitchell Starc's spell and Phil Salt's 89 off 47 balls which will provide them with succour and comfort in the long run.
Starc created the "impact" mentor Gautam Gambhir had been talking about to cripple LSG with three for 28. Salt then made the 162-run chase look easy with his attacking display, riding luck on a couple of occasions.
Two early dismissals had no effect once Salt and Shreyas Iyer got together. The unbroken third wicket partnership stitched together 120 off 76 balls as the LSG attack lacked the bite. Giving Salt company, Shreyas made run-a-ball 38.
In Mayank Yadav's absence, LSG unleashed another promising fast bowler, West Indian Shamar Joseph who had ripped through the Australian batting at the Gabba earlier this year. Making his IPL debut, Joseph struggled on an unresponsive and slow wicket.
He failed to strike the right length while consistently clocking in excess of 146kmph. He leaked 22, including 10 extras, in his first over.
On the contrary, Starc set the tone early, getting the ball to move occasionally without offering any freebies. But once he realised that the sultry conditions weren't offering any lateral movement, he pulled the length back a bit to reap the rewards. His double strike in the final over, which included Nicholas Pooran off the first ball, left LSG in dire straits.
LSG certainly missed big-hitters as Marcus Stoinis failed again and Pooran left it too late.
