A quickfire fifty from Quinton de Kock (50 off 29) and a vital knock by Deepak Hooda (41 off 27) guided Lucknow Super Giants to 176-7 against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 53rd match of the IPL 2022 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, here on Saturday.
Both De Kock and Hooda steadied Lucknow with a 71-run stand for the second wicket. Apart from them, the likes of Krunal Pandya (25 off 27), Marcus Stoinis (28 off 14) also made some valuable contributions with the bat for LSG.
Put into bat first, Lucknow were off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of skipper KL Rahul in the fifth ball of the very first over of the innings. Quinton de Kock drove the ball towards covers and looked to take a run but his hesitation led to the confusion. By that time Rahul was half-way down the track, Shreyas Iyer affected the direct hit at the bowler's end with a rocket throw and the LSG skipper had to walk back for a diamond duck.
However, the duo of De Kock and Deepak Hooda, who came to bat at No. 3, helped Lucknow a quick recovery from that run out. Hooda cracked drives and lofts through the off-side while De Kock brought out the pull to smash boundaries and sixes as LSG raced to 66/1 at the end of six overs.
Even after the powerplay, De Kock continued his aggressive approach and slammed his half-century off just 27 balls. However, he couldn't continue his innings longer and got out in the 8th over bowled by Sunil Narine.
After losing the wickets of Rahul and De Cock, the onus was on Hooda and Krunal Pandya to keep the momentum going. While Hooda was playing with aggressive intent, Krunal struggled to find his timing, which slowed down LSG's run-rate.
With LSG at 104/2 in 12 overs, KKR skipper Iyer brought Andre Russell into the attack and he struck in his first over to remove a well set Deepak Hooda (41), who tried to pull the ball away but picked out Shreyas in the mid-wicket region. Krunal tried to show some intent by hitting a Tim Southee delivery for boundary over covers but Russell also sent him back to the pavilion as KKR clawed their way back in the game.
With four overs to go at 126/4, LSG needed some late fireworks to finish well. Mavi and Russell bowled two decent overs (17th and 18) in a row to keep Lucknow batters -- Stoinis and Badoni in control. Just when things were going well for KKR, Mavi bowled an expensive 19th over as he conceded five sixes. Stoinis cracked a hat trick of sixes before getting out in the fourth ball. After he was dismissed, Holder continued to smack Mavi and collected two more sixes.
LSG lost a couple of wickets -- Jason Holder (13 off 4) and Chameera (0) in the last over bowled by Tim Southee. But, Ayush Badoni (15 off 18) remained not out and helped Lucknow finish with a formidable 176/7. Andre Russell (2/22) was the most successful bowler for KKR, while Sunil Narine (1/20), Tim Southee and Shivam Mavi (1/50) also chipped in with one wicket each.
Brief scores; Lucknow Super Giants: 176-7 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 50, Deepak Hood 41; Andre Russell 2/22) vs Kolkata Knight Riders