In an exciting match on Wednesday, Lucknow Super Giants beat Kolkata Knight Riders by two runs to qualify for the IPL 2022 playoffs. Gautam Gambhir’s ecstatic celebration following the vital victory has gone viral on social media. India’s former batter from the World Cup-winning team was spotted partying wildly. Marcus Stoinis took the wicket of Umesh Yadav on the final delivery of the match, and Gambhir leaped from his chair. With this victory, the KL Rahul-led side became the IPL’s second team to qualify for the playoffs this season.
Previously, Gambhir’s stern dressing room statement following Lucknow’s 62-run loss to Gujarat Titans was widely shared on social media.
Returning to the match, Lucknow batted first and put up a massive score of 210 in 20 overs without losing a wicket. Quinton de Kock, the wicketkeeper-batsman for Lucknow, scored 140 runs (not out) from 70 balls. His innings had ten boundaries and ten sixes. KL Rahul, the captain of Lucknow, too produced a strong knock of 68 (not out) off 51 balls. The pair put together the third-highest wicket partnership in IPL history.
In response, the two-time IPL champions got off to a bad start, losing their first two batters in the first three overs. However, Nitish Rana (42 runs off 22 balls) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (50 runs off 29 balls) kept their cool to help Kolkata avert an early setback. Rinku Singh later stepped in for a cameo of 40 off just 15 balls, but Kolkata’s efforts were in vain as they could only manage 208/8 in 20 overs.
Marcus Stoinis, an all-rounder from Lucknow, and Mohsin Khan, a left-arm bowler, each took three wickets to help their team win by two runs.
On the other hand, Kolkata’s loss against Lucknow was enough to knock them out of contention for the IPL playoffs. The Shreyas Iyer-led side ended their IPL 2022 campaign with 12 points from 14 games after winning six of them.
The Gujarat Titans, headed by Hardik Pandya, were the first team to qualify for the IPL playoffs in the 15th season.
