Kolkata Knight Riders grabbed the top spot in the IPL 2024 points table with a massive 98-run win over Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday. The win took the Shreyas Iyer-led team to 16 points and they are one win away from booking their place in the play-offs. Lucknow Super Giants dropped to fifth spot with 12 points – the same as Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad – but an inferior Net Run Rate (NRR). In the other match of the day, Chennai Super Kings remained third with a win over Punjab Kings which took them to 12 points. PBKS is eighth with 8 points from 11 games.
Sunil Narine's scintillating fifty and a collective effort from the bowlers fueled Kolkata Knight Riders' 98-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2024 on Sunday.
The decision to bowl first did not go to plan for LSG as KKR became the first team to cross the 200-run mark at the Ekana Stadium.
Narine (81 off 38 balls) once again proved his worth with the willow and went on a six-single attack, firing seven maximums and six fours to take the visitors to 235/6.
Chasing an imposing total, LSG batters had to go from the start but the hosts found it difficult to get the big shots and were eventually bowled out for 137 in 16.1 overs.
Within the first 10 overs, LSG had lost half the side, including skipper KL Rahul (25), Arshin Kulkarni (9), Deepak Hooda (5) and big hitters Marcus Stoinis (36) and Nicholas Pooran (10).
Ashton Turner struck a few lusty blows and looked in mood to demonstrate his batting skills, but the Australian had the worst of luck as an inside edge deflected off his boot as Varun Chakravarthy completed a catch and bowling.
With the win, KKR moved to the top of the table. They have 16 points, the same as Rajasthan Royals, but have played one more match.
LSG, on the other hand, fell out of the top four to fifth place with 12 points from 11 games. Their Net Run Rate also took a huge hit, dropping from 0.094 to -0.371.
Ravindra Jadeja delivered an all-round effort to help Chennai Super Kings beat Punjab Kings by 28 runs. Sent into bat, Jadeja made 43 runs off 26 balls and then took 3 for 20 to ensure a win for CSK.
Chasing a modest 168, PBKS faltered from the outset, with only Prabhsimran Singh (30) and Shashank Singh (27) making significant contributions with the bat before being restricted to 139 for 9 in 20 overs.
Besides Jadeja, Simarjeet Singh (2/16) and Tushar Deshpande (2/35) took two wickets each for CSK.
Earlier, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar and pacer Harshal Patel took three wickets each as PBKS put in a disciplined bowling effort to restrict CSK to 167 for nine.
Jadeja, skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (32) and Daryl Mitchell (30) got starts for CSK but failed to convert their knocks into big scores.
Chahar (23/3) and Harshal (24/4) stood out with the ball for PBKS, while stand-in captain Sam Curran (1/34) and Arshdeep Singh (2/42) also registered their names in the wicket-takers list.
(With PTI inputs)
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