Kolkata, April 9 — Mukul Choudhary held his nerve to finish unbeaten on 54 as Lucknow Super Giants chased down 182 on the final ball to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by three wickets at Eden Gardens in an IPL 2026 thriller on Thursday. Choudhary’s 54* came off 27 balls, having reached his fifty in 26 deliveries, as LSG reached 182/7 in 20 overs to overhaul KKR’s 181/4.
Asked to bat first, KKR posted a competitive 181 for four. After an early loss of Finn Allen for nine, Ajinkya Rahane and youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi rebuilt with a composed 84-run partnership. The pair rotated strike and accelerated late in the power play, taking KKR to 98/1 at the halfway point. Rahane fell for a brisk 41 in the 11th over to Digvesh Rathi, and Raghuvanshi followed for 45 off Manimaran Siddharth soon after. The middle overs slowed, but Rovman Powell’s late onslaught — an unbeaten 39 — plus Cameron Green’s 32 not out helped KKR finish strongly on 181/4. For Lucknow, Prince Yadav, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Rathi and Manimaran Siddharth took one wicket each.
Chasing on a slow surface, LSG began aggressively as Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh raced to 41 inside four overs. KKR fought back in the fifth over when Vaibhav Arora removed both Markram (22) and Marsh (15) in the same over. Rishabh Pant and Ayush Badoni attempted to steady the chase; Pant fell to Cameron Green for 10 while Nicholas Pooran managed only 13. Badoni kept LSG in contention with a well-paced 54 off 34 balls, including seven fours and two sixes, before he was dismissed soon after reaching his fifty.
With runs required mounting, Choudhary took charge late. LSG needed 14 off the final over; Choudhary struck two sixes and kept his composure under pressure, steering the side to victory with the winning run on the last delivery. KKR’s Anukul Roy finished with 3-32 and Vaibhav Arora claimed 2-38 as the home side fell agonisingly short in a closely fought contest at Eden Gardens.
Original Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/ipl-2026-mukuls-unbeaten-54-guides-lsg-to-thrilling-three-wicket-win-over-kkr
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Publish Date: 2026-04-09 23:45:00
