TATA IPL 2022 had to wait till 66th match to watch one of the best games of the season. It was a game to remember between KKR and LSG at the DY Patil stadium as both the teams went hell for leather. The equation was simple, if LSG win they qualify for the play-offs and KKR are out of the tournament. A win for KKR would have made it interesting with more teams in the fray for a place in the final four of the tournament.
KKR lose their openers but Nitish Rana goes after LSG bowlers –
KKR were faced with a stiff target of 211 to win, after Quinton De Kock scored an impressive 140. LSG bowlers struck early when they had Venkatesh Iyer caught brilliantly by De Kock for duck. The next to go was debutant Abhijeet Tomar for 4, when he was caught by Rahul off Mohsin Khan. Nitish Rana though spelt his intentions as he went after the LSG bowlers and scored a quick fire 42 off 22 balls with 9 fours. He added 61 runs for the 3rd wicket with KKR skipper Iyer in just 27 balls.
Iyer and Billings steady the ship –
Once Nitish Rana was out, it was Englishman Sam Billings who joined forces with Iyer and the duo added 66 for the 4th wicket. The runs came at quick pace as the 66 runs were added in just 39 balls. Captain Shreyas Iyer scored 50 off 29 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes before he fell to Stoinis caught by Deepak Hooda.
Rinku Singh takes the game close –
Post the fall of Iyer, the next to go was Billings who scored 36 off 24 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes and he was dismissed by Ravi Bishnoi, stumped by De Kock. Andre Russell couldn’t do much as he fell for 11 ball 5. That’s when Rinku Singh and Sunil Narine joined forces to add 58 runs in 19 balls .
Last over heartbreak for KKR –
By the time the last over came, KKR needed 21 to win from 6 balls. The first ball saw Rinku smack Stoinis for a four with a crisp drive. The next ball saw Rinku Hit the Australian over the mid wicket fence for a six. The 3rd ball was again a six straight over the bowlers head and the equation was 5 runs from 3 balls.
Evin Lewis changes the game –
The mood in the LSG camp had changed all off a sudden, as from firm favorites, they were playing catch. The 4th ball saw Rinku Singh take 2 runs to make it 3 runs needed from 2 balls. The 5th ball saw Stoinis bowl one outside off and Rinku try to hit it out of the ground to seal the win. That’s when Evin Lewis came charging and took a brilliant one handed catch. The last ball saw Umesh Yadav take strike and lose his off stump as LSG ran out winners by 2 runs. This loss meant that KKR are out of the tournament.
The 2 run win for LSG was also the lowest in terms of runs after a team had scored over 200 runs in the first innings. The celebration from the LSG camp was visible as former KKR captain Gautam Gambhir looked animate.
You can read the tweets by fans embedded below.
He gave all his tonight. @rinkusingh235 💔
#KKRvLSG #RinkuSingh pic.twitter.com/HEhmfv1dGY
— Harsh Mishra.. (@iamharsh55) May 18, 2022
It was always @LucknowIPL’s match to lose but what an incredible innings by #rinkusingh ! He must be disappointed for being so near yet so far but we should be proud of such cameo! #LSGvKKR #KKRvsLSG #KKRvLSG #RPSwing
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) May 18, 2022
It was always @LucknowIPL’s match to lose but what an incredible innings by #rinkusingh ! He must be disappointed for being so near yet so far but we should be proud of such cameo! #LSGvKKR #KKRvsLSG #KKRvLSG #RPSwing
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) May 18, 2022