Gautam Gambhir knows what it takes to win at the Eden Gardens and against the Kolkata crowd. He has spent seven IPL seasons at the Kolkata Knight Riders between 2011 and 2017, leading the franchise to their only two title hauls. But on Saturday, when Gambhir returned to the ground, his role was completely different. He was from the visiting side as a mentor of Lucknow Super Giants. And eventually, he did have the last laugh as LSG secured the thriller to move to the playoffs, but they had survived not just a Rinku Singh onslaught but also the wild “Virat Kohli” chants that went throughout the second innings. Gambhir's intense celebration at the end of the win, summed it up perfectly.
Lucknow had a tough job at hand after Chennai Super Kings' emphatic win against Delhi Capitals earlier in the day. LSG had to win and by a large margin to ensure them a place in the top two, let alone a playoffs berth. And in that bid to play aggressive cricket, the top order lost their plot quickly only for Nicholas Pooran to save the day with his fiery half-century knock that took them to 176 for eight.
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Kolkata, who still had a bleak hope for playoffs alive, started off in top-class fashion with both Jason Roy and Venkatesh Iyer stitching a 61-run stand. It was during this time that the Eden Gardens crowd teased Gambhir and Naveen-ul-Haq with “Kohli” chants. But after their dismissal, LSG spinners choked on the runs and KKR's middle order succumbed. Ravi Bishnoi, Krishnappa Gowtham and Krunal Pandya were impressive with the ball and as were Yash Thakur and Naveen. But then began the Rinku show. With 40 required off the last two overs, he smashed the Afghanistan quick for 20 runs and then almost took KKR past the finish line, but eventually fell short by just one run.
{{/usCountry}}Kolkata, who still had a bleak hope for playoffs alive, started off in top-class fashion with both Jason Roy and Venkatesh Iyer stitching a 61-run stand. It was during this time that the Eden Gardens crowd teased Gambhir and Naveen-ul-Haq with “Kohli” chants. But after their dismissal, LSG spinners choked on the runs and KKR's middle order succumbed. Ravi Bishnoi, Krishnappa Gowtham and Krunal Pandya were impressive with the ball and as were Yash Thakur and Naveen. But then began the Rinku show. With 40 required off the last two overs, he smashed the Afghanistan quick for 20 runs and then almost took KKR past the finish line, but eventually fell short by just one run.
{{/usCountry}}With LSG winning the thriller and reaching the playoffs, Gambhir broke into an intense celebration. He banged the table repeatedly and then hugged one of his LSG mates. There was no smile on his face throughout the act.
Watch the video here…
Despite the win, LSG failed to topple Chennai in terms of net run rate implying that CSK will face Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2023 while Lucknow will await the results on the final league day to know their opponents for the Eliminator.