Lucknow: It was a match of many firsts. Mohsin Khan collected his first five-wicket haul. Angkrish Raghuvanshi got out obstructing the field, a first this IPL season. Rinku Singh struck his best-ever knock in T20 cricket that produced a first Super Over contest this season.
Fittingly, Rinku had the final say as three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders won this high-stakes survival battle under the lights on Sunday night against Lucknow Super Giants.
The equation was clear for both sides as only a win could help them stay alive, and the visitors beat the hosts in the Super Over with Rinku hitting the winning runs.
It was a match and Super Over to forget for LSG, as Nicholas Pooran was out on the first ball before Aiden Markram got out on duck on the third ball. Sunil Narine’s brilliance with the ball left KKR with just two to get. Rinku, who also took five catches, hit a boundary off the first ball.
After scoring just 31/3 in the Powerplay, KKR weren’t in a position to post even close to 150, but Rinku’s four consecutive sixes in the last over changed their fortunes, allowing the visitors to score 155/7.
LSG’s run-chase never looked in command even though skipper Rishabh Pant tried to accelerate, scoring four blistering fours and a six before Himmat Singh’s 19-run cameo put the side back in contention. Mohammed Shami’s last-ball six helped the side equal the score.
Almost all the KKR bowlers showed fine control and Varun Chakravarthy stood tall with his consecutive dot balls before forcing off-colour Pooran to offer a straight catch to Narine at short third man. That wicket sealed the fate for LSG.
Mohsin’s 5/23 — his best T20 figures — ripped through KKR’s fragile top order. The left-armer’s arsenal was simplicity perfected, banging the ball into the bouncy black soil for extra zip or deploying cutters at varying paces to fox the batters.
He opened with a wicket-maiden, snaring Ajinkya Rahane with a fuller delivery that the KKR skipper sliced high to Markram at covers. Mohsin’s variety shone brightest against Cameron Green, who briefly threatened a rescue after smashing George Linde for two consecutive sixes in a recovery over that fetched 16 runs after KKR had slumped to 31/3.
Unfazed by Green’s assault, Mohsin dug in a short ball two deliveries later. It baited the Australian all-rounder (34 off 24) into a mistimed pull, which he skied straight to Pant behind the stumps. Green’s exit broke a crucial 42-run stand with Rinku for the fifth wicket. The 27-year-old pacer wasn’t done. He later claimed Tim Seifert, Rovman Powell, and Anukul Roy, dismantling KKR’s middle order to become the first bowler this season to take five wickets.
Rinku’s unbeaten 83 off 51 balls stood as KKR’s lone beacon. The finisher paced his knock masterfully, punishing Shami in the 19th over with six, four, four, before unleashing four consecutive sixes off spinner Digvesh Rathi in the final over. Those 43 runs across the last two overs propelled KKR past 150.
Drama peaked early with IPL 2026’s first “obstructing the field” dismissal. In the fifth over from Prince Yadav, Angkrish Raghuvanshi nudged to mid-on and sprinted for a single, only for Green to send him back. Diving desperately outside the pitch strip, Raghuvanshi blocked Shami’s throw, which was deemed more than incidental by third umpire Rohit Pandit.