Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ka dream chase ek baar phir adhoora reh gaya, jab unhe Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ke haathon sirf 4 runs se karari haar ka samna karna pada. Yeh thriller match April 8 ko Eden Gardens, Kolkata mein khela gaya, aur fans ke liye yeh poora paisa vasool tha!
LSG ke Nicholas Pooran ne batting ka dhamaka kar diya, aur sirf 36 balls par 87 not out thok daale. Unka strike rate tha ek jaw-dropping 241.67. Pooran ki is performance ne unhe ‘Player of the Match’ ka khitab dilwaya.
KKR ki taraf se captain Ajinkya Rahane ne bhi shandar innings kheli, 61 runs banaye 35 balls mein, jis mein 8 boundaries aur 2 sixes shamil the. Lekin jab 13th over mein Shardul Thakur ne unka wicket le liya, tab KKR ka momentum hil gaya aur unki jeet ki umeedein dheemi pad gayi.
“A really tight one (game). As I said at the toss, the wicket remained good throughout the 40 overs. We gave our best, it was a great game, in the end we were just 4 runs short. When you are chasing 230-plus, you will lose wickets in the chase,” Rahane ne post-match presentation mein kaha.
Rahane ne pitch ki tareef ki aur bataya ki wicket 40 overs tak consistent tha, lekin unka asli concern tha team ki bowling performance. Unhone specifically highlight kiya ki Sunil Narine aur Varun Chakaravarthy jinki usually middle overs mein chalti hai, wo is baar effective nahi rahe.
“Sunil ball ke saath struggle kar raha tha. Yeh ek best wicket tha batting ke liye, lekin humare bowlers ne expected tarike se perform nahi kiya. Sunil aur Varun dono hi usually middle overs control karte hain, par aaj unka din nahi tha,” Rahane ne disappointment ke saath kaha.
Is jeet ke saath LSG chauthi position par pahuch gaya points table mein, jabki KKR gir gaya chhati position par. LSG ka agla match Gujarat Titans ke saath hai 12 April ko, aur KKR Chennai Super Kings ka samna karega 11 April ko.
Fans ab yeh dekhne ke liye excited hain ki kya KKR apni bowling woes ko sudhaarke comeback karega ya phir ek aur heartbreak unka intezaar kar raha hai.
