Mukul Choudhary helped Lucknow Super Giants pull off a stunning three-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in an IPL 2026 match at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Kolkata remain winless after four matches as Mukul turned the course of the game single-handedly with an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls, as LSG chased down the target of 182.
On a slow Kolkata track, host KKR kept LSG’s chase in check with Vaibhav Arora striking in the fifth over as he dismissed Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram off the first and third deliveries, respectively. Cameron Green bowling for the first time in the season struck immediately with the scalp of LSG skipper Rishabh Pant.
Ayush Badoni tried to revive LSG’s chase before Kartik Tyagi dismissed the dangerous Nicholas Pooran for 13. Badoni consolidated the innings and kept LSG in the hunt and was dismissed on 54 off 34 balls by Anukul Roy in the 15th over. Shami too fell in the next over, with LSG’s score at 128 for 7.
With LSG requiring 54 to win off 24 balls, KKR would have thought of having the game in their pocket. But the turnaround was loading for LSG.
Mukul had struggled early, scoring just two runs off his first six balls when Shami was dismissed. But he soon turned things around in style. He hit a four and a six in the next over bowled by Arora and then smashed two more sixes off Tyagi.
He kept the momentum going in the second-last over, taking on Green with two sixes and a four. That brought the equation down to 14 runs needed from the final over.
In the last over bowled by Arora, Mukul got on strike for the second ball and immediately hit a six over deep backward square leg. But the next two deliveries were dot balls, which increased the pressure, leaving seven runs needed from the last two balls.
Then came a stunning moment. Choudhary reached wide outside off stump, went down on one knee, and played a brilliant shot to send the ball over deep cover for a flat six with the score tied. He missed the final ball, but the batters managed to run a single and complete the win.
Earlier, LSG fought back strongly with their bowling efforts in the middle overs to restrict KKR to 181 for 4.
After being asked to bat first, KKR got off to a solid start depite losing Finn Allen early for just 9 . They reached 98 for 1 in 10 overs, with captain Ajinkya Rahane and in-form Angkrish Raghuvanshi adding 84 runs and looked set to take the team past 200.
However, LSG bowlers slowed things down by picking wickets. Rahane, who made 41 off 24 balls, was dismissed by spinner Digvesh Rathi, while Raghuvanshi, who scored 45, got out in the very next over.
KKR’s troubles mounted when Avesh Khan bounced back after an expensive start to dismiss Rinku Singh for just 4 as Kolkata slipped to 115 for 4 in 15 overs.
A late push from Rovman Powell, who remained unbeaten on 39 and Cameron Green, who scored an unbeaten 32, helped KKR reach a competitive total.
Among the LSG bowlers, Mohammed Shami though went wicketless stood out with a tight spell, giving away just 27 runs in four overs. Rathi and Maniraman Siddharth chipped in with one wicket each and kept things under control.
At the start of KKR’s innings, there was also a bit of controversy around Allen’s dismissal, as a catch near the boundary raised questions, but the umpires did not review the decision.
