Kolkata Knight Riders squared off against Lucknow Super Giants in a must-win game for KKR at the MCA Stadium Pune on Saturday. They got off to a good start, but soon Lucknow got themselves back in the contest and took complete control of the match.
First, LSG batters dominated the powerplay and in the slog overs as well, they continued their assault. KKR pacer Shivam Mavi faced the wrath of Lucknow batters Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder, as they combined to strike five sixes off Mavi's 19th over.
Such is the nature of T20 cricket that bowlers always face an uphill task to keep the batters at bay, particular in the powerplay and sometimes in the death overs as well.
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Mavi conceded 30 runs off his 19th over, as Jason Holder and Marcus Stoinis' combined effort resulted in five sixes in a single over.
The carnage began with Marcus Stoinis hitting three back to back sixes against Mavi, clearing the boundary ropes towards deep square leg, long-on, and deep mid-wicket before handing a simple catch to KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer who was stationed at long-on.
Just when it seemed that Mavi had the last laugh over Stoinis, Jason Holder continued the onslaught on the Indian pacer, finishing the over with two back to back sixes.
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Talking about the match, Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bowl first, however after he got rid of dangerman KL Rahul early, Lucknow dominated the proceedings as they racked up a total of 176/7 in 20 overs, thanks to a half-century from Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda's 41-run knock, combined with a strong finish from the tailenders.
In reply, KKR got off to a stuttering start, they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 25/4 after 7 overs, at the time of writing.
