The Kolkata Knight Riders rose above the bottom of the points table for the first time this season with a victory over the Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2026. But why did LSG lose to KKR?
Today’s LSG vs KKR game was Match 38 of IPL 2026. It was played at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, with the home team winning the toss and deciding to bowl first. Kolkata kept losing wickets regularly throughout the first half of their innings. They were struggling right towards the end as well. But Rinku Singh’s heroics in the last two overs took the Knight Riders to 155/7 in 20 overs.
In response, the Super Giants stayed behind the required run rate throughout. After the established partnership of Rishabh Pant and Aiden Markram was broken in the 11th over, they kept losing wickets. However, they would reach 155 runs in 20 overs while scratching and clawing throughout. The game was going to a super over.
In the Super Over, LSG lost two wickets for just one run, and KKR chased the target down in just one ball with a boundary, winning the game.
Here, we will discuss the three reasons why KKR beat LSG in Match 38 of IPL 2026.
LSG Vs KKR: 3 Reasons Why KKR Beat LSG
1) Rinku Saves The Day
A match-up between two tables at the bottom of the table usually brings out fireworks. This was done by the Lucknow Super Giants right towards the start of the game. In just the second over of the game, Tim Seifert got out for a duck for the second game in a row, dismissed by Mohsin Khan.
Then, in the fourth over, the other opener, who was team captain Ajinkya Rahane, became Mohsin’s second wicket on the night, getting out after making 10 off 15.
The next wicket was a controversial one. In the fifth over, the KKR batters had a mix-up while taking a run. Angkrish Raghuvanshi saw the ball in the field and decided to run back to his crease. However, the ball hit him instead of going to the stumps. In what was a controversial decision, Raghuvanshi was announced as obstructing the field and was given out for nine off eight.
Rovman Powell’s one-run wicket, which was Mohsin’s third, right after the powerplay, left the Knight Riders in a rough spot at 31/4. But with Cameron Green and Rinku Singh on strike, the game wasn’t over.
The two played for over five overs together and brought the innings back on track. In the 11th, Green was dismissed by, you guessed it! Mohsin Khan. The Aussie got out after making 34 off 21 after having been dropped earlier in the over. Then, on the very next ball, Khan completed his fifer with the golden duck of Anukul Roy.
Ramandeep Singh too did not make much of an impact with the bat, making six off 11 and getting out in the 15th over, while the team score wasn’t even 100 yet.
While all this was taking place at the other end, Rinku Singh was playing cautiously, rotating strike, and hitting a boundary here and there. He batted slowly for a long time. He was run-a-ball till 33 and was batting at 43 off 40 at the end of the 18th over with the team score being 112/7. But this would be the start of his ramp-up.
In the 19th over, KKR made 17 runs, which included two fours and a six by Rinku Singh. But the real fireworks were left for the 20th over. Bowled by Digvesh Rathi, the final over saw Singh hit four sixes in a row. Coupled with a couple of wides, this over went for 25 runs, which brought Kolkata’s score to a respectable 155/7.
2) LSG Batting Choked For Runs
Throughout the second innings of this LSG vs KKR match, the Lucknow Super Giants struggled for runs, staying behind the eight-ball for the entire game, only to catch up right at the end.
The innings was opened by the overseas and proven duo of Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram. However, Marsh lost his wicket quite early today, his wicket coming in the second over after he made two off three.
For the next nine overs, stability would be established for LSG. The pair of Markram and captain Rishabh Pant ensured that their team would not lose too many wickets in a clump. While the two batted slowly, they made sure that Lucknow would have the batters remaining to score at about nine runs per over in the final 10 overs.
The two took the team past the 10-over mark without losing another wicket. They also kept the run rate around six before Markram, right about as he looked to pick the pace up, was caught at long-off by Rinku Singh, who completed a sensational boundary-riding catch.
Rishabh Pant, who had started smacking the ball all over the park, was dismissed inexplicably in the 13th over for 42 off 38.
Nicholas Pooran suffered yet another failure this season, as he made just nine off 12. While Mukul Choudhary, the hero of the last game between these two teams earlier this season, was out for just one. Now in the 14th over, LSG needed 62 runs in 28 deliveries with Ayush Badoni and Himmat Singh on the crease.
Badoni took up the responsibility of scoring boundaries. After a slow, cautious start to his innings at six for 10, he hit two sixes twice in the next four balls he faced. Himmat hit a maximum in the 17th over too, at the end of which the equation was down to 38 off 18.
For all this time, while LSG tried to keep up with the run rate, Kolkata had done an excellent job of staying ahead in the match. They bowled finely, taking regular and crucial wickets, while choking the opposition out of runs.
In the 18th over, Badoni would get out for 24 off 19. This brought George Linde on strike, who hit a couple of fours in that over before getting out at the start of the 19th. Himmat and Mohammed Shami hit a four each in that one, leaving 17 to be scored in the last over.
Kartik Tyagi came out to bowl the ultimate over of this innings. On the first ball, Shami ran a single without even touching the ball. Then, Tyagi would bowl a waist-height no-ball, which went for no other runs. The next one was also a height no-ball, where the batters ran a double. On the free hit, Singh fit a four.
Now eight runs required in four balls, Tyagi would get rid of Himmat, essentially winning his team the game. Price Yadav took a single on the fourth, and Mohammed Shami missed the fifth, leaving seven runs for the final ball.
However, the veteran bowler would save the game with the bat, hitting a half-volley for a six on the last ball to take this match into the first Super Over of the season.
3) Sunil Narine Dominates The Super Over
After such a thrilling game, a Super Over was the ideal outcome. However, this game, not whittled down to one over each, would end in a disappointing fashion for any neutral fans.
As KKR batted first in the match, they would bowl first in the Super Over, with Sunil Narine coming on to bowl.
Narine is a specialist Super Over bowler. The Trinidadian all-rounder famously bowled a no-run Super Over for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL in 2014. He is usually the designated bowler in this situation for any team he plays for.
KKR’s decision to hand the ball to the veteran spinner proved correct, as he bowled fellow West Indian Nicholas Pooran on the first ball of his over. LSG’s decision to send out Pooran, who has been in horrid form this season, was certainly a questionable one.
Rishabh Pant came out to bat at number three and took a single on the second ball. Then, on the third, looking to hit a six over long-on, Aiden Markram mistimed it and was caught in the deep.
For those who might not know, a Super Over allows only three batters from one team to take the strike. This means if a team loses two wickets, the over ends prematurely for them. S, having lost two wickets for just a single run, batting for the Super Giants, was over.
Needing just a couple of runs in six balls, Rinku Singh scored a four on the first ball for the Kolkata Knight Riders, winning them the first Super Over of the season and their second victory this season.
While Mohsin Khan made a solid case of being the best performer of the match with his fifer, Rinku Singh was named the Player of the Match for his not-out 83 off 51.
With this win, the Kolkata Knight Riders shot up to eighth on the points table with two wins, five losses, a washout, five points, and a negative net run rate in eight games.
Meanwhile, the Lucknow Super Giants stay at eighth on the points table. In the seven games they have played, they have lost five and have won just two, netting them four points and a poor net run rate.
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