Kolkata Knight Riders are winless even after playing four matches in the IPL 2026 season. They looked confident enough to claim victory against Lucknow Super Giants. But Super Giants’ rising batsman Mukul Chaudhary spoiled the night for Knight Riders.
The total was a little over 180, which was not a huge score but was certainly competitive, especially after losing several key batsmen cheaply. A day before the weekend at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, the stadium was not as crowded as was expected.
In the away match, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) received good support, mainly thanks to Mohammed Shami, who is a local boy for cricket fans in West Bengal.
KKR batsmen achieved competitive scores in the first innings
After losing the toss, Kolkata Knight Riders came to bat first. LSG made a good start to their bowling by taking the wicket of Finn Allen. Prine Yadav was the bowler and Digvesh Rathi was the fielder who took the catch. This catch was a bit controversial as the tip of his boot was very close to the boundary line.
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi came to the rescue. They took the total from 15/1 to 99 runs for 2 wickets. Ajinkya Rahane and Raghuvanshi both missed half-centuries by only a small margin. The momentum that KKR got from the partnership of Rahane and Raghuvanshi suddenly diminished due to Rinku Singh being bowled. The way Rinku bowled against Avesh Khan disappointed the fans.
Cameron Green and Rovman Powell played two important innings for the team. With the help of Green’s unbeaten 32 runs on 24 balls and Powell’s unbeaten 39 runs on 24 balls, the team was successful in making a competitive score of 181 runs for 4 wickets in 20 overs.
Mukul Chaudhary summarizes LSG’s business
LSG got a great start with their openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram. In the first four overs, he did not allow KKR bowlers to leave their mark in the match. The joke came in the 5th over of Super Giants’ run chase when fast bowler Vaibhav Arora took two wickets in the same over.
Arora sent first Markram and then Marsh to the pavilion in the same over. Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant also played a modest innings before being dismissed by Cameron Green. At the Eden Gardens, the Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler made the rivalry more competitive to watch.
But the game was still going on. Ayush Badoni (54 off 34) and Mukul Chaudhary (54* off 27) scored half-centuries under pressure. Mukul lasted for a long time and sealed the victory of Lucknow Super Giants on the last ball of the match. LSG won by 3 wickets.
Mukul’s innings was decisive: Ajinkya Rahane, KKR captain
Ajinkya Rahane said after the match in Kolkata, “It’s a tough match, but we are really proud of the boys on the way we played. Mukul (Chaudhary)’s innings was decisive. The execution in the last two overs could have been here and there, but credit to Mukul for that partnership. For them, there was nothing to lose, 2 overs, 30 runs, so it was all about working hard.”
“Some balls were good, but he batted brilliantly. When you lose a game, it’s easy to know what you could have done better. Getting 180 on this wicket was not easy. Give credit to the batsman for the way he batted. The intention was to keep Avesh on strike. We had to field five fielders, and it was tough for the bowlers,” Ajinkya Rahane said.
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