Kamal Ghorui
LUCKNOW: Sunil Narine has fought and won countless battles for Kolkata Knight Riders over the years. On Sunday night at the Ekana Stadium, the veteran once again stood at the centre of chaos, entrusted with bowling the first Super Over of this IPL in a finish that swung violently till the final delivery.Lucknow Super Giants, who had clawed their way back to force the tie, erred immediately by sending an out-of-form Nicholas Pooran to open the Super Over alongside Aiden Markram. Narine flighted the first ball, bowled it slower through the air, and rattled Pooran’s stumps to decisively tilt the contest.
Markram followed three balls later, dismissed on the boundary as Rovman Powell and Rinku Singh combined to complete a superb catch under pressure. With just two runs to defend, Rinku needed only one ball, calmly striking it away to seal KKR’s second win of the season.Earlier, chasing 156, LSG endured a roller-coaster pursuit. Brief contributions from Rishabh Pant and Ayush Badoni offered hope, but wickets continued to stall momentum. With 17 required in the final over, Kartik Tyagi bowled two costly waist-high no-balls and conceded sixes, yet still had seven to defend off the final ball. Mohammed Shami, however, held his nerve, dispatching a length delivery into the stands to force the Super Over.The defeat will sting LSG fast bowler Mohsin Khan the most. The left-armer delivered a sensational spell of 5/23, nearly dragging his side home by restricting KKR to 155/7 despite a defiant 83 from Rinku Singh (51 balls).Mohsin ripped through the top order early, dismissing Tim Seifert for a duck and removing captain Ajinkya Rahane for 10 in successive maiden overs. The innings took an extraordinary turn when Angkrish Raghuvanshi became only the fourth batter in IPL history to be given out obstructing the field, reacting angrily as he walked off.With KKR struggling at 31/4, Cameron Green and Rinku steadied things before Mohsin struck again. Rinku then launched a late counter-attack, adding 62 off 29 balls with Narine, including four consecutive sixes in the final over, to give KKR a fighting total, one that ultimately proved just enough in a night where Narine’s calm proved decisive once more.Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 155/7 (Rinku Singh 83 not out, Cameron Green 34; Mohsin Khan 5/23) tied with LSG 155/8 (A Markram 31, R Pant 42, A Badoni 24; V Arora 2/24, V Chakravarthy 2/33). Super Over LSG 1/2 in 0.3 overs lost to KKR 2/0 in 0.1 over.
