Phil Salt, Mitchell Starc power Kolkata Knight Riders to 8-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants

Digital Desk: The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) recorded their first-ever victory over the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Indian Premier League (IPL) history on Sunday at Eden Gardens owing to an explosive half-century by Phil Salt and his century combination with captain Shreyas Iyer.

With four victories and one defeat in five games, KKR holds the second position. They receive eight points overall for it. LSG has three wins, three losses, and six points, which puts them in fifth place. Due to numerous wides from pacer Shamar Joseph in the opening over of KKR's run chase of 162, the team managed to score extra runs. 22 runs were scored in the opening over, including six and four from Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, respectively.

Following an excellent catch by Marcus Stoinis in the cover area, Mohsin Khan struck for LSG in the next over, dismissing Narine for six runs in six balls. In 1.3 overs, KKR was 22/1. Angkrish Raghuvansh joined Salt at the crease. In the third over, Salt hit three consecutive fours against Krunal Pandya.

Raghuvanshi was caught behind by KL Rahul for just seven runs by Mohsin, therefore he did not last very long. There was simply one limit to his knock. In 3.1 overs, KKR was 42/2. KKR reached their fifty runs in five overs when Salt hit Yash Thakur for two consecutive fours.

The two-time champions ended their six overs of powerplay at 58/2, with skipper Shreyas Iyer (5*) and Phil Salt (30*) unbeaten. In the 10th over, Salt smashed three boundaries to Arshad Khan, reaching his half-century in 26 balls, with eight fours and two sixes.

KKR reached the 100-run mark in 9.4 overs. Halfway through the innings, KKR was 101/2, with Salt (51*) and Iyer (21*) unbeaten. For the few overs, Iyer-Salt mostly dealt in singles and strike rotation, until Salt let his willow lose in the 14th over, hitting Yash for three boundaries.

Smashing Mohsin for a massive six over midwicket, Salt helped KKR reach the 150-run mark in 14.2 overs. Salt hit the winning runs, a boundary to finish the inning at 162/2 in 15.4 overs. Salt was unbeaten at 89* in 47 balls, with 12 fours and three sixes, Iyer was unbeaten at 38* in 38 balls, with six fours.

Mohsin (2/29) was the pick of the bowlers for LSG.

Prior to that, in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at Eden Gardens on Sunday, Nicholas Pooran led the Lucknow Super Giants to a competitive score after the Kolkata Knight Riders soar high with a spectacular bowling attack. The KKR bowlers, led by Mitchell Starc, dominated the opening inning.

Following the toss, LSG was placed to bat and, once again, lost a few wickets in the powerplay as Quinton de Kock and Deepak Hooda left the game without making much of an impression. With two fours in the first over of the game, the South African batsman got his day off to a good start.

In the first over, Mitchell Starc gave up 10 runs after hitting a clean drive and then four more off the bat of de Kock. Vaibhav Arora ended de Kock's stay with a thick edge in the following over, giving the team a score of 10 (8). In place of Devdutt Padikkal, Deepak Hooda—who has appeared as an impact replacement for LSG—was added to the playing XI. 

After Ramandeep Singh made an excellent catch, giving Starc his first wicket of the match, his poor run with the bat continued. Ayush Badoni and KL Rahul put up a 39-run partnership to undo the damage done during the powerplay. Rahul (39) was sent back by KKR's explosive all-rounder Andre Russell, who was trying to change gears.

Marcus Stoinis missed a shot, but Varun Chakaravarthy benefited from it. In to seize Badnoi's wicket (29), Sunil Narine entered. With fortune on his side, Nicholas Pooran charged into the crease and launched a solitary campaign. As the anchor of the duo, Krunal Pandya dealt only sixes. 

While Shreyas Iyer put his trust in Starc to deliver the last over, fireworks were anticipated from Pooran's bat. Starc dismissed Pooran for 45 on the opening ball, repaying Iyer's faith. Arshad Khan was brought on as an impact substitution, and LSG gambled for the last five balls.

After conceding a boundary following an edge, Starc bowled back-to-back dot balls to put pressure on LSG. Arshad managed to rotate the strike, leaving the mantle on Pandya to end the innings on a high note. Pandya mistimed his shot, leaving the impact sub to face the final ball. Starc produced his signature toe-breaking yorker to leave Arshad baffled in his crease, as the ball crashed into the stumps.

Lucknow Super Giants: 161/7 (Nicholas Pooran 45, KL Rahul 39; Mitchell Starc 3-28) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders: 162/2 in 15.4 overs (Phil Salt 89*, Shreyas Iyer 38*, Mohsin Khan 2/29).