INTRO
Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off one of the most dramatic results of IPL 2026, beating Lucknow Super Giants after a tied match and a short, brutal Super Over at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. The main match finished with both teams on 155 runs: KKR made 155/7, LSG replied with 155/8, and then KKR won the Super Over after Sunil Narine destroyed Lucknow’s attempt with the ball and Rinku Singh finished the job with one shot. Reuters described it as the shortest Super Over in IPL history, with KKR needing only one delivery to complete the win.
This was not a normal low-scoring match. It had Mohsin Khan’s maiden IPL five-wicket haul, Rinku Singh’s rescue innings, Mohammed Shami’s last-ball six, Sunil Narine’s Super Over masterclass, and a finish that turned a 155-run grind into one of the season’s most chaotic endings. The official IPL report called it “one of the most spectacular heists” in IPL history.
Match Summary 📊
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Match | Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Match 38 |
| Tournament | IPL 2026 |
| Venue | Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow |
| Date | 26 April 2026 |
| Toss | LSG won the toss and chose to bowl |
| KKR score | 155/7 in 20 overs |
| LSG score | 155/8 in 20 overs |
| Main match result | Match tied |
| Super Over | LSG 1/2 in 0.3 overs; KKR 4/0 in 0.1 overs |
| Final result | KKR won the Super Over |
| Player of the Match | Rinku Singh |
| Top KKR scorer | Rinku Singh — 83* off 51 |
| Top LSG scorer | Rishabh Pant — 42 off 38 |
| Best LSG bowler | Mohsin Khan — 5/23 |
| Best KKR bowlers | Vaibhav Arora 2/24, Varun Chakaravarthy 2/33 |
ESPN’s scorecard confirms the venue, toss, Player of the Match, KKR’s two points, and the Super Over scores of LSG 1/2 and KKR 4/0.
KKR Innings: Mohsin Khan destroys the top order, Rinku saves the match 🟣
Lucknow’s decision to bowl first looked correct almost immediately. Mohsin Khan ripped through the KKR top order and reduced the visitors to a serious mess. Tim Seifert fell for a duck, Ajinkya Rahane made only 10, Angkrish Raghuvanshi was out for 9, and Rovman Powell managed only 1. KKR’s powerplay brought only 31 runs, and by 6.1 overs they were 31/4.
The official IPL report described Mohsin’s spell as “absolute terror” with the new ball. He dismissed Seifert, Rahane, and Powell inside the powerplay, then returned to remove Cameron Green and Anukul Roy. His final figures were 5/23 in 4 overs, his maiden IPL five-wicket haul.
KKR were not merely slow; they were structurally broken. Cameron Green gave brief resistance with 34 off 21, but once he and Anukul Roy fell in consecutive deliveries at 73/5 and 73/6, the innings looked close to collapse. Ramandeep Singh also fell cheaply, leaving KKR at 93/7 in 14.6 overs. From that position, 130 looked realistic, 150 looked difficult, and 155 looked almost impossible.
Then Rinku Singh changed the match. He started slowly because the situation demanded survival, but once he reached the back end, he switched gears sharply. ESPN’s match notes show that he reached his fifty from 42 balls, but the eighth-wicket stand with Sunil Narine exploded late: 50 runs in 27 balls, with Rinku contributing 44 of those runs. KKR reached 150 in 19.5 overs and finished on 155/7, with Rinku unbeaten on 83 off 51.
KKR Batting Card 🏏
| KKR batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ajinkya Rahane | 10 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 66.67 |
| Tim Seifert | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Angkrish Raghuvanshi | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 112.50 |
| Cameron Green | 34 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 161.90 |
| Rovman Powell | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Rinku Singh | 83* | 51 | 7 | 5 | 162.75 |
| Anukul Roy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ramandeep Singh | 6 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 54.55 |
| Sunil Narine | 4* | 6 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Extras | 8 | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 155/7 | 20 overs | — | — | 7.75 RPO |
The batting card shows the entire story: seven KKR batters failed to cross 34, and only Rinku’s innings lifted the total into a defendable range.
LSG Bowling: Mohsin’s five-for deserved a win 🎯
Mohsin Khan was the best bowler in the main match. His figures — 4 overs, 1 maiden, 23 runs, 5 wickets — were elite in any context, but especially valuable in a low-scoring match. He took wickets at the start and again in the middle, and he was the main reason KKR were pinned at 93/7.
The rest of the LSG attack played support roles. George Linde dismissed Ramandeep Singh and kept the middle overs tight enough, while Prince Yadav conceded only 24 from his four overs. Digvesh Singh Rathi was expensive at 46, and Shami went wicketless, but the bowling unit had done enough to keep KKR to 155.
LSG Bowling Figures
| LSG bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Shami | 4 | 34 | 0 | 8.50 |
| Mohsin Khan | 4 | 23 | 5 | 5.80 |
| Prince Yadav | 4 | 24 | 0 | 6.00 |
| Digvesh Singh Rathi | 4 | 46 | 0 | 11.50 |
| George Linde | 2 | 18 | 1 | 9.00 |
| Aiden Markram | 2 | 9 | 0 | 4.50 |
LSG Chase: steady start, middle-order damage, last-ball madness 🔵
Lucknow’s chase started better than KKR’s innings. Mitchell Marsh fell early for 2, but Aiden Markram and Rishabh Pant stabilized the innings with a 57-run stand. LSG were 37/1 after the powerplay, better than KKR’s 31/3, and at 57/1 after 9 overs, they looked in control. ESPN’s match notes record the 50-run second-wicket partnership between Markram and Pant as the core of Lucknow’s chase.
But the chase began to tighten after Markram fell for 31 off 27. Pant made 42 off 38, but his strike rate remained low for a chase that required clarity. Nicholas Pooran fell for 9, Mukul Choudhary made only 1, and by 15.2 overs, LSG were 93/5. That phase was where KKR turned a modest total into a real contest.
Ayush Badoni added 24 off 19, Himmat Singh hit a useful 19 off 10, and George Linde made 8 off 4, but Lucknow kept losing wickets at key moments. The chase still came down to the final over, where the situation became absurd. Reuters reported that LSG needed seven runs off the last ball, and Mohammed Shami hit Kartik Tyagi over long-off for six to tie the match and force the Super Over.
That shot saved LSG from defeat in regulation time. It did not save them in the Super Over.
LSG Batting Card 🏏
| LSG batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | Strike rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aiden Markram | 31 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 114.81 |
| Mitchell Marsh | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Rishabh Pant | 42 | 38 | 4 | 1 | 110.53 |
| Nicholas Pooran | 9 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 75.00 |
| Ayush Badoni | 24 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 126.32 |
| Mukul Choudhary | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Himmat Singh | 19 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 190.00 |
| George Linde | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Mohammed Shami | 11* | 6 | 1 | 1 | 183.33 |
| Prince Yadav | 0* | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 8 | — | — | — | — |
| Total | 155/8 | 20 overs | — | — | 7.75 RPO |
LSG’s chase was functional but never fully fluent. Pant and Markram built the platform, but neither accelerated enough before the middle-order wickets. Shami’s six made the ending dramatic, but LSG had already let the chase become unnecessarily narrow.
KKR Bowling: no five-for, but enough pressure in key phases ⚙️
KKR did not have one bowler with Mohsin-style figures in the main innings, but they spread the wickets better. Vaibhav Arora took 2/24, including Marsh and George Linde. Cameron Green removed Markram. Sunil Narine dismissed Pant. Varun Chakaravarthy removed Pooran and Badoni. Kartik Tyagi dismissed Himmat Singh but also bowled the chaotic final over that allowed Shami to tie the game.
KKR Bowling Figures
| KKR bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anukul Roy | 2 | 19 | 1 | 9.50 |
| Vaibhav Arora | 4 | 24 | 2 | 6.00 |
| Cameron Green | 2 | 12 | 1 | 6.00 |
| Sunil Narine | 4 | 23 | 1 | 5.80 |
| Varun Chakaravarthy | 4 | 33 | 2 | 8.20 |
| Kartik Tyagi | 4 | 41 | 1 | 10.20 |
Narine’s main-innings spell already mattered: 4 overs, 23 runs, 1 wicket. But his biggest work was still waiting in the Super Over.
Super Over: Sunil Narine ends it in three balls 🧨
The Super Over was brutally short. LSG batted first, and Sunil Narine bowled one of the coldest pressure overs of the season. Reuters reported that Narine bowled Nicholas Pooran first ball, then removed Aiden Markram on the third ball, with LSG making only 1/2 in 0.3 overs. ESPN’s scorecard confirms the Super Over score: LSG 1/2 in 0.3 overs.
KKR then needed only two runs to win. Rinku Singh came out and hit the first ball for four. That was it. KKR finished the Super Over on 4/0 in 0.1 overs, sealing the match in one delivery.
Super Over Summary ⚡
| Team | Super Over score | Key moment |
|---|---|---|
| LSG | 1/2 in 0.3 overs | Narine dismissed Pooran and Markram |
| KKR | 4/0 in 0.1 overs | Rinku hit the first ball for four |
| Result | KKR won Super Over | Shortest Super Over in IPL history |
Key Turning Points 🔥
| Phase | What happened | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Mohsin’s new-ball spell | KKR fell to 31/4 | LSG took full control early |
| Mohsin’s return spell | KKR collapsed to 93/7 | KKR looked unlikely to cross 130 |
| Rinku-Narine stand | 62-run unbeaten stand | KKR reached 155 instead of collapsing |
| LSG second-wicket stand | Markram-Pant added 57 | Lucknow stabilized the chase |
| Middle-overs squeeze | LSG slipped to 93/5 | KKR brought the match back |
| Shami last-ball six | LSG tied the match | Forced the Super Over |
| Narine Super Over | LSG made only 1/2 | Match effectively ended there |
| Rinku first-ball four | KKR won Super Over | Perfect finish to his 83* |
Tactical Reading: why KKR won 🧩
KKR won because they did not stop fighting after the match looked gone twice.
First, they were 93/7 with only five overs left. Rinku Singh turned that into 155/7 with one of the best lower-order rescue innings of the season. His unbeaten 83 off 51 was not just a top score; it was the only reason KKR had a match to defend.
Second, they defended a small total by taking wickets at the exact moments LSG tried to settle. Pant and Markram were building control, but once both were removed, Lucknow’s chase became unstable. KKR never let LSG produce one clean finishing partnership.
Third, Sunil Narine’s Super Over was elite match awareness. He did not bowl defensively. He attacked the stumps and forced LSG into immediate failure. Reuters quoted Narine saying the team backed him to bowl the Super Over, and that collective trust was repaid in three deliveries.
What the Result Means 📈📉
The win moved Kolkata Knight Riders up to eighth place, while Lucknow remained at the bottom after a fifth straight defeat, according to Reuters. Pant’s post-match comments also pointed to the pressure inside the LSG camp: he said the team needed a break, had to refresh, and needed players to take accountability.
For KKR, this was not a perfect performance. Their top order failed badly, they were rescued by one batter, and they nearly lost the chase defense on the final ball. But in tournament terms, the result was huge. They got two points, won a pressure finish, and found a genuine match-winning innings from Rinku.
For LSG, the defeat was damaging because they had the game in hand multiple times. Mohsin Khan’s five-wicket haul should have led to a straightforward win. Instead, their batting tempo, middle-order wickets, and Super Over execution turned a strong position into another loss.
Final Verdict 🏁
KKR won this match because Rinku Singh and Sunil Narine solved two different crises. Rinku rescued the innings from 93/7 and took Kolkata to 155/7. Narine then won the Super Over by reducing LSG to 1/2 in three balls. Lucknow had Mohsin Khan’s brilliant 5/23, Pant’s 42, and Shami’s last-ball six, but they failed to close the game when it mattered.
The scoreline says: KKR 155/7, LSG 155/8 — Match tied, KKR won the Super Over.
The real story is sharper: LSG controlled more of the match, but KKR owned the decisive moments.
