Lucknow Super Giants became the second team to qualify for IPL 2022 playoffs after they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by a mere two runs at the DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday night.

After opting to bat, Lucknow posted 210 for no loss in their 20 overs and in response Kolkata finished on 208 for eight in their 20 overs.

Lucknow rode on a fine opening stand between Quinton de Kock and Lokesh Rahul. Together the two put on an unbroken 210 for no loss in 20 overs. de Kock slammed a brilliant unbeaten 140 off just70 balls with 10 boundaries and 10 sixes. Captain Rahul ended on 68 off 51 balls with three boundaries and four sixes. This was the highest opening stand in the history of IPL and the second highest in all T20 cricket.

In their chase, Kolkata lost their top-order cheaply. Then Nitish Rana (42: 22b, 9x4) took charge with captain Shreyas Iyer. The duo added 56 runs for the third wicket. Thereafter, Iyer carried forward the chase as he added 66 runs for the fourth wicket with Sam Billings (36). Iyer fell for 50 off 29 balls with four boundaries and three sixes. Then Rinku Singh took control in a blitzkrieg effort where he added 58 runs in 19 balls with Sunil Narine. Rinku fell with Kolkata needing three runs off one ball. Rinku made 40 off just 15 balls with two boundaries and four sixes. Off the last ball, Umesh Yadav was clean bowled by Marcus Stoinis as Lucknow won by just two runs. Kolkata ended on 208 for eight in their 20 overs. For Lucknow the best bowlers were Mohsin Khan (3-20) and Marcus Stoinis (3-23).

Aisa josh jisne uda diye hosh! Super proud of our #SuperGiants on this zabardast jeet ?????? #abapnibaarihai??#AbApniBaariHai?? #IPL2022 ?? #bhaukaalmachadenge #LSG #LucknowSuperGiants #T20 #TataIPL #Lucknow #UttarPradesh #lsg2022 pic.twitter.com/hfOfpuxCjZ

— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) May 18, 2022

Match Summary
Lucknow Super Giants: 210-0 (20)

Kolkata Knight Riders: 208-8 (20)
Fall of wickets: 0-1 (Venkatesh Iyer-0.4), 9-2 (Abhijeet Tomar-2.4), 65-3 (Nitish Rana-7.1), 131-4 (Shreyas Iyer-13.4), 142-5 (Sam Billings-15.4), 150-6 (Andre Russell-16.4), 208-7 (Rinku Singh-19.5), 208-8 (Umesh Yadav-19.6)

Result: Lucknow Super Giants won by two runs

Scorecard

Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Abhijeet Tomar, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Sam Billings (wicket-keeper), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Varun Chakravarthy

Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock (wicket-keeper), KL Rahul (captain), Evin Lewis, Deepak Hooda, Manan Vohra, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Krishnappa Gowtham, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi

Match Details
Toss: Lucknow Super Giants, elected to bat
Venue: DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai
Start time: 1500 hrs GMT
Match officials: Rohan Pandit, Yeshwant Barde (On-field Umpires); Bruce Oxenford (TV Umpire); Nikhil Patwardhan (Reserve Umpire); Manu Nayyar (Match-referee)

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