Quinton de Kock struck a sensational hundred and shared a report opening stand with skipper Ok L Rahul as Lucknow Tremendous Giants pipped Kolkata Knight Riders by two runs in a last-ball IPL thriller to seal their play-off spot right here on Wednesday.
De Kock gave a batting masterclass enroute to an unbeaten 140 off 70 balls as he and Rahul (68 not out off 51) fired LSG to 210 for no loss, the best opening stand in IPL historical past.
It was a steep chase however KKR stayed within the recreation by Nitish Rana (42) and captain Shreyas Iyer (50) however it was too huge a activity for the lower-order. Their innings ended 208 for eight in 20 overs.
Simply when it appeared KKR had been down and out, Sunil Narine (21 not out off) and Rinku Singh (40 off 15) began smashing the LSG bowlers across the floor to reignite hopes of the dug out.
KKR wanted 38 runs off the final two overs and so they each introduced the equation all the way down to 21 off the ultimate over.
Rinku got here up with couple of sixes and a 4 to make it 5 off the final three balls however he fell to a particular one handed catch from Evin Lewis to convey LSG again into the sport.
With three wanted off the ultimate ball, Marcus Stoinis landed a yorker to dismiss Umesh Yadav and assist his staff win a humdinger.
The loss knocked KKR out of the competitors, whereas LSG, who had misplaced their final two matches, moved again into the top-two with the win.
Earlier, Rahul and de Kock bought the measure of the wicket within the powerplay, reaching 44 for no loss, earlier than flaunting their big selection of strokes on option to the third highest stand in event historical past.
The South African hammered 10 sixes and as many fours in his whirlwind innings, whereas Rahul collected 4 sixes and three fours in his 51-ball 68 not out.
De Kock, who was dropped by Abhijeet Tomar off Umesh Yadav within the third over, made KKR pay closely by getting the best rating of the season. His memorable innings was additionally third highest particular person rating in event historical past.
The South African was in his parts smashing the spinners and pacers with equal disdain.
He used the pull shot in opposition to the sooner bowlers and was at his modern finest in opposition to the seasoned spin duo of Sunil Narine and off colored Varun Chakaravarthy.
Out of the sixes he hit, de Kock’s reverse sweep off Narine stood out. Something brief from the pacers, de Kock was completely happy to place it away over deep sq. leg area.
De Kock cruised to his hundred within the 18th over with a reduce shot off Russell and the innings meant rather a lot to him, one thing that was visibly by his down on knees celebration.
The southpaw was in no temper to cease even after reaching three figures. Tim Southee was poor within the loss of life overs as he fed balls after balls within the slot for de Kock to deposit it into the stands.
His nineteenth over yielded as many as 27 runs with de Kock discovering the boundary at will.
Rahul watched de Kock’s breathtaking knock from the most effective seat in the home. The skipper didn’t have a lot to do within the slog overs however he too performed some chic strokes on option to his third half century of the season.
Rahul additionally accomplished 500 runs within the event for the fifth season in a row. PTI KKR bowlers leaked 88 runs within the final 5 overs with Southee and Russell proving to be the most costly bowlers.
