Lucknow Super Giants secured their place in the IPL 2023 playoffs by narrowly defeating the Kolkata Knight Riders by one run at Eden Gardens. With 17 points, the same as the Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants finished third due to their lower net run rate. They will now face the fourth qualifying team in the Eliminator in Chennai on May 24.

Initially, Lucknow Super Giants could finish in the top two. However, Chennai Super Kings’ comprehensive 77-run victory over the Delhi Capitals in the earlier match meant Lucknow needed to defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by a margin of approximately 97 runs to surpass Chennai’s net run rate. Achieving such a target was daunting, especially after Lucknow posted 176 runs while batting first. At 73 for 5 in the 11th over, it seemed unlikely they would even reach that total, but Nicholas Pooran’s quickfire 58 off 30 balls revived their innings.

Kolkata Knight Riders had a strong start but lost momentum during the middle overs. The match required 56 runs from the last four overs and 41 runs from the final two. Rinku Singh smashed 20 runs off Naveen-ul-Haq’s 19th over, leaving 21 runs to win from the last over.

In the final over bowled by Yash Thakur, Vaibhav Arora took a single off the first ball. However, Lucknow struggled to score off the next two deliveries, with two dot balls and two wides. With 18 runs needed from three balls, Rinku hit the fourth ball for a six but could only manage a four off the fifth ball. Despite hitting a six off the final delivery, it only reduced the margin of defeat, as Lucknow Super Giants emerged victorious by just one run.