Rinku Singh did finish it off with a six, but the game was already beyond Kolkata Knight Riders’ reach by then.
With hardly any support from the other end in the death overs, Rinku waged a lone battle as the Knight Riders lost by just one run to Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden on Saturday.
Unlike how it was during the April 23 game against Chennai Super Kings, almost the entire turnout rooted for Kolkata Knight Riders in their final league-phase game.
Even though Lucknow Super Giants wore green and maroon, paying respect to the legacy of Mohun Bagan (also owned by the city-based RPSG Group along with the Lucknow IPL franchise), there was hardly any support for them in the Eden stands for most part of the game. But they took that in their stride and held their nerves to secure a narrow victory to earn themselves a playoffs spot.
Finishing third in the standings, the Super Giants await Royal Challengers Bangalore or Mumbai Indians for the Eliminator in Chennai on Wednesday.
For the Knights, their IPL 2023 campaign ended in agony. Once again, they failed to perform as a unit and utilise the home conditions.
For the nth time this season, Rinku (67 not out off 33 balls) took the game till its final over from another hopeless situation. The left-hander did give the Super Giants a scare when he clobbered Afghan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq — jeered by the fans with “Kohli, Kohli” chants (following the row he had with Virat Kohli during and after Lucknow’s game against RCB) — for 20 in the penultimate over.
With 21 needed off the deciding over, Rinku did try a Motera encore. But the rub of the green just didn’t go in his favour this time.
With support from the partisan crowd, the Knights, winning the toss and opting to bowl first, did a decent job earlier to have Lucknow struggling at 73/5 after 10.1 overs. But the in-form Nicholas Pooran brought in his power and timing to good effect, hitting a 30-ball 58 that lifted the Super Giants to 176/8.
The bowlers then ensured Pooran’s effort didn’t go waste. KKR’s new opening pair, Jason Roy and Venkatesh Iyer, took them off to a flier hitting 61 inside the first six overs. But the Super Giants’ spinners brought them back into the contest with Krishnappa Gowtham (1/26), the consistent Ravi Bishnoi (2/23) and captain Krunal Pandya accounting for Iyer, skipper Nitish Rana and Roy, respectively.
