Yet another final-ball thriller, yet another defeat. Kolkata Knight Riders remained winless in the Indian Premier League 2026 after losing to Lucknow Super Giants on Thursday, April 9, as Mukul Choudhary snatched two points right from under the nose of Ajinkya Rahane and his men at Eden Gardens.
Defending 181, Kolkata looked on course for their first win of the season. A spin choke in the middle overs, led by Sunil Narine and Anukul Roy, had kept KKR ahead of the game. But the hosts were blown away in the final two overs by a whirlwind knock from the 21-year-old Mukul, who simply refused to give up on the day.
KKR vs LSG: Highlights | Scorecard
Born in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, a small town nearly 200 kilometres north-west of Jaipur, Mukul has already been touted as the next big finisher in the IPL. LSG head coach, Justin Langer had spoken highly of him at the start of the season, and the youngster lived up to that praise, as the league unearthed yet another potential star on Thursday night.
Chasing 182, Mukul walked in at a precarious moment. As mentioned before, KKR were dominating the second innings after the opening powerplay. The hosts got the wickets of Markram and Marsh, were able to dismiss Rishabh Pant in the 9th, and then hit back with the wickets of Nicholas Pooran and Abdul Samad right after the drinks break.
Sunil Narine was operating at his very best with the pacers on the other side mixing up slower balls and bouncers to eke out wickets.
Things turned worse for the visiting side when in the 13th over, they also lost a set Ayush Badoni, who had made 54 off 34 and looked set to take the game deep.
With hopes fading, Mukul had little option but to counterattack. But he was forced to bide his time against Narine and Roy, who were bowling the final overs of their spell. Mukul dug deep and waited until the 17th over to launch his assault.
With Avesh Khan at the other end, it was clear that it had to be Mukul or nothing for LSG.
He began with a four and a six off Vaibhav Arora in the 17th, followed by two sixes off Kartik Tyagi in the 18th. The momentum swung decisively in the 19th, when Mukul smashed Cameron Green for two sixes and a four, before taking on Vaibhav again in the final over with two more sixes.
Even then, the drama was far from over. Mukul missed two consecutive yorkers, leaving LSG needing seven off two balls. He responded with a fierce slash over point for six, bringing the equation down to one off the final ball.
Mukul swung hard, missed, and sprinted for the single. Wicketkeeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s throw struck him on the body, but by then, KKR already knew the result. Heads dropped, shoulders slumped, as the game slipped away at Eden Gardens.
“God has given me this opportunity, there can be pressure but it is also an opportunity to make a name for myself. My aim was to bat till the last and see what happens. In my mind I knew one out of the four balls will be in the slot and I was just waiting for it,” Mukul told the broadcaster after the game.
The match brought back memories of 2024, when a struggling Rajasthan Royals chased down 224 runs in the final ball of the game. Jos Buttler, stuttering for rhythm for the majority of his innings, went on an exceptional counter-attack in the last five overs of the game.
Buttler, who was 42 off 33 in the 14th over, finished with 107* off 60 balls, helping Rajasthan successfully chase down that target.
DIGVESH RATHI DECISION COSTS KKR
In a match of such low margins, KKR must be unhappy with the dismissal of Finn Allen, who fell was given out by the third umpire in the second over of the game today. Allen, who has a century in the T20 World Cup at the same venue, was caught at the boundary rope by Digvesh Rathi, who definitely stepped on the rope while completing the catch.
The third umpire behaved hastily and adjudged Allen out, robbing KKR of a six and a wicket in the first innings of the game.
ARE KKR OUTDATED?
182 is not a daunting chase at Eden Gardens. At least, it hasn’t been since the introduction of the Impact Player rule. Punjab Kings have chased down 262 at this venue, while Rajasthan Royals, as mentioned earlier, have also hunted down a target of 224.
One could argue that Rishabh Pant’s Lucknow Super Giants made an absolute meal of what should have been a straightforward chase, something they ideally should have wrapped up inside 18 overs.
On Thursday, Aiden Markram fell to a bouncer, Mitchell Marsh fell to a bouncer, and so did Pant and Nicholas Pooran. It is not often that four top-tier batters fall to the same plan on the same day.
That, in turn, puts Kolkata Knight Riders’ total of 181 for 4 under scrutiny.
KKR’s batting order is deep. It may be slightly unbalanced, but it has depth. On the day, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, and Sunil Narine did not face a single delivery.
In fact, KKR were 98 for 1 in the 10th over and looked set for a total well beyond 200. But inexplicably, Cameron Green, who faced 24 balls, struggled to shift gears early, stalling KKR’s acceleration phase after the halfway mark.
On an ideal day, KKR would risk losing 7 or 8 wickets to push their total into the 200–220 range, giving their injury-hit bowling attack more margin to defend.
Questions need to be asked of Andre Russell and the work being done with the finishers, as well as the team management’s reluctance to fully utilise the batting depth, especially when the bowling unit has not been at par with other teams this season.
MUKUL CHOUDHARY’S NIGHT
But the many flaws in the game should not take the spotlight away from the incredible knock by Mukul Choudhary on Thursday. The 21-year-old, who has been working closely with Justin Langer, showed exactly why the former Australia great had singled him out as one of the brightest talents this season.
In Jhunjhunu, where many youngsters grow up dreaming of joining the army, Mukul brought that same sense of resolve to the field. It may not have been a battlefield, but under pressure, with the game slipping away, he stood tall and dragged Lucknow Super Giants back from the brink at Eden Gardens.
– Ends
