Just when Kolkata Knight Riders were looking strong to restrict the opposition for a below-par total, Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder smashed five maximums in the 19th over to score 30 runs off Shivam Mavi’s bowling.
Fighting for their survival in the 15th edition of the IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders are squaring off against Lucknow Super Giants in the 53rd match of the tournament at the MCA Stadium, Pune.
Shreyas Iyer, KKR’s skipper, won the toss and invited KL Rahul & co. to bat first. The Lucknow-based franchise had the worst possible start as Rahul got run out for a diamond duck without facing a delivery after a mixup with Quinton de Kock.
However, Deepak Hooda and Quinton de Kock counter-attacked the opposition with an aggressive approach and added 71 runs off 39 deliveries for the 2nd wicket. Once QDK and Deepak Hooda got out, LSG’s innings stuck in the middle, and runs were tough to come by.
With 142/4 in 18 overs, a score of 165 looked like a distant possibility. However, Marcus Stoinis decided to go all out on the attack in the 19th over.
Marcus Stonis and Jason Holder attack Shivam Mavi
The Australian all-rounder smashed Shivam Mavi for three consecutive maximums on the first three delivery of the 19th over. However, the youngster Mavi managed to mount a small comeback by scalping Stoinis’ wicket on the fourth delivery.
Jason Holder came out to bat next but did not allow the team to lose the momentum. He also smashed Shivam Mavi for back-to-back sixes to score 30 runs off Shivam’s over.
Watch the video here:
In the end, Lucknow Super Giants posted a decent total of 176/7 in 20 overs. Chasing the total, Kolkata Knight Riders could not have a worse start as the two-time champions lost four wickets inside the first seven overs.
At the time of writing, KKR are languishing at 30/4 in 7.4 overs with 147 runs required off 74 deliveries.
