Agencies
Kolkata
Youngster Mukul Choudhary announced himself in grand fashion with a stunning unbeaten 54 off 27 balls, guiding Lucknow Super Giants to a thrilling three-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in a last-ball chase of 182 in the IPL here on Thursday. With the chase under pressure, Mukul rose to the occasion, displaying remarkable composure and fearless strokeplay despite wickets falling at the other end.
LSG had begun well through Aiden Markram (22) and Mitchell Marsh (15) before Vaibhav Arora struck twice in one over. The innings then faltered as Rishabh Pant (10), Nicholas Pooran (13) and Abdul Samad departed cheaply.
Ayush Badoni anchored the chase with a fluent 54 off 34 balls, but it was Mukul who took control in the closing stages. He accelerated brilliantly, brought up his fifty in 26 balls and kept LSG in contention. Needing 14 in the final over, Mukul smashed two sixes and calmly completed the winning run off the last ball to seal a memorable victory. Earlier, Ajinkya Rahane (41) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (45) shared an 84-run stand, while Rovman Powell (39*) and Cameron Green (32*) powered KKR to 181 for four.
