Lucknow Super Giants beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 1 run to qualify for IPL 2023 playoffs

Nicholas Pooran held the innings together with a counter-attacking fifty to propel Lucknow Super Giants to a fighting 176 for eight against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday Pooran (58 off 30 balls) rebuilt the innings after LSG were precariously placed at 73/5 with all their top batters, including the in-form duo of Marcus Stoinis (0) and Krunal Pandya (9), getting out cheaply.

Put into bat, LSG struggled to break free early on with rookie new ball bowler duo of Vaibhav Arora (2/30) and Harshit Rana (1/21 from three overs) setting the pace beautifully before spinners got into the act.

Old warhorse Sunil Narine (2/28) and Varun Chakravarthy (1/38) removed Krunal and Quinton de Kock (28) in successive overs to bring cheer to the KKR camp.

Image: BCCI