The Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow staged one of the most dramatic finishes of the Indian Premier League 2026 season on Sunday, April 26, as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in a Super Over after the 38th match of the tournament ended in a tie at 155.
Rinku Singh produced the highest Twenty20 score of his career with an unbeaten 83 from 51 balls, then participated in the catch that ended the Super Over, then sealed the chase with a boundary off the first ball. Sunil Narine bowled the Super Over that decided the contest, conceding one run while removing Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram. Mohsin Khan, on the losing side, recorded a maiden five-wicket haul in Twenty20 cricket with figures of five for 23.
How did Kolkata Knight Riders recover from 93 for 7 to set Lucknow Super Giants a chase of 156 runs at Ekana?
Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bowl first. Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane indicated his side had intended to bat first regardless, rendering the toss outcome immaterial.
The decision to bowl looked inspired almost immediately. Mohsin Khan struck in the second over of the innings, dismissing Tim Seifert with a delivery clocked at 142.4 kilometres per hour and caught at extra cover. The wicket was Seifert’s second consecutive duck of the season and Mohsin Khan’s third wicket-maiden of IPL 2026, an unusually high tally given that all other bowlers in the tournament have combined for two maiden overs across the season.
Ajinkya Rahane fell shortly after for a low score, Mohsin Khan claiming the captain’s wicket as well. Angkrish Raghuvanshi was given out obstructing the field in a controversial Powerplay dismissal that became only the fourth such ruling in IPL history, joining Yusuf Pathan, Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja on that list. Kolkata Knight Riders managed only 31 runs in the first six overs and lost three wickets during that period.
Cameron Green attempted a counterattack with 34 runs that included two sixes off George Linde and one off Mohsin Khan, but he holed out behind the stumps trying another pull off Mohsin Khan, with Rishabh Pant running back to complete the catch at the boundary. Anukul Roy chipped the next delivery to short midwicket, completing Mohsin Khan’s five-wicket haul in the 11th over. The five wickets were taken in the second-earliest stage of any IPL innings, behind only Ishant Sharma’s five-for in the first four overs of the Kochi Tuskers Kerala innings in 2011.
Kolkata Knight Riders were 73 for 6 after 11 overs, sliding to 93 for 7 when Ramandeep Singh fell in the 15th over. Manish Pandey was padded up in the dugout as the designated Impact Player substitute. He was not required.
What did Rinku Singh do in the death overs to take Kolkata Knight Riders from 129 for 7 to 155 for 7 in the final two overs?
Rinku Singh reached 43 from 40 balls by the end of the 18th over and then accelerated through a calculated final phase. He struck Mohammed Shami for a six, four, four sequence in the 19th over, then took Digvesh Singh Rathi for four consecutive sixes in the 20th, generating 26 runs from that final over alone.
The unbeaten 83 from 51 balls included seven boundaries and five sixes and is the highest Twenty20 score of Rinku Singh’s career. The eighth-wicket partnership with Sunil Narine produced 62 runs in 27 balls and broke the previous Kolkata Knight Riders record of 52 runs for the eighth wicket, set by Umesh Yadav and Rinku Singh in an earlier IPL season.
The acceleration converted what looked like a sub-130 total into 155 for 7, a target that subsequent events confirmed as defendable.
How did Lucknow Super Giants tie the chase off the final ball after Kartik Tyagi’s two waist-high no-balls in the 20th over?
The chase began with Aiden Markram and Rishabh Pant constructing a 57-run second-wicket stand after Mitchell Marsh fell early. Aiden Markram contributed 31 runs before being dismissed by a sharp boundary catch from Rinku Singh, who pulled the ball back from the rope, threw it inside as he lost balance, and recovered to complete the catch.
Rishabh Pant top-scored for Lucknow Super Giants with 42 runs in a fluent innings that ended when Kolkata Knight Riders successfully reviewed a wicket decision in the 13th over. Varun Chakravarthy then dismissed Nicholas Pooran for nine runs from 12 balls. The Lucknow Super Giants middle order failed to construct meaningful partnerships against tight bowling from Vaibhav Arora, who finished with two for 24, and Varun Chakravarthy, who returned two for 33.
Lucknow Super Giants required 17 runs from the final over, with Mohammed Shami and Himmat Singh at the crease facing Kartik Tyagi. The over generated extraordinary drama. Kartik Tyagi was nearly removed from the attack after bowling two waist-high no-balls during the over. The on-field umpires conferred and allowed him to complete the over, though the no-balls each produced free hits and shifted the equation sharply. Himmat Singh was given out caught off a delivery that Kartik Tyagi reviewed, but ball-tracking measured the impact at 1.08 metres against Himmat Singh’s recorded waist height of 1.01 metres, ruling the delivery a high full toss and a no-ball.
Mohammed Shami struck the final delivery of the over for six down the ground, levelling the scores at 155 and forcing the contest into a Super Over. Lucknow Super Giants finished at 155 for 8 from their 20 overs.
Why did the Super Over end in three balls and what role did Sunil Narine play in the result that decided IPL Match 38?
Lucknow Super Giants batted first in the Super Over with Sunil Narine bowling for Kolkata Knight Riders. The over lasted three deliveries.
Sunil Narine bowled Nicholas Pooran with the first ball of the Super Over. Rishabh Pant took a single from the second delivery. Aiden Markram launched the third ball towards the long-on boundary, where Rovman Powell sprinted to his left, caught the ball at the rope, and flicked it back towards long-off as he stepped over the boundary. Rinku Singh, positioned at long-off, completed the catch. The dismissal added to Rinku Singh’s four catches earlier in the regulation match.
Lucknow Super Giants finished the Super Over at one for two from three balls, setting Kolkata Knight Riders a target of two runs. Rinku Singh took strike against Prince Yadav for the chase, drove the first delivery through cover point for four, and ended the contest in a single ball.
What does the result mean for Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2026 standings?
The fixture pitted the two bottom-placed teams in IPL 2026 against each other, with both sides arriving in Lucknow under significant pressure. Lucknow Super Giants had lost four of their preceding matches, while Kolkata Knight Riders had registered their first win of the season the previous week after a six-match winless streak.
The result lifts Kolkata Knight Riders to a second consecutive victory and stalls a season that had looked terminal at the halfway stage. Ajinkya Rahane retains his position as captain after the win, and the return of Matheesha Pathirana in this match strengthens a fast-bowling unit that had been depleted for much of the tournament.
For Lucknow Super Giants, the loss intensifies pressure on a side that has now extended its losing streak. The Rishabh Pant-led franchise possesses one of the few all-Indian bowling attacks in IPL 2026, and Mohsin Khan’s continued effectiveness, including three maiden overs in the tournament so far, validates that strategy. The persistent weakness sits in the middle order, where Lucknow Super Giants again failed to convert a strong platform into a successful chase.
Rinku Singh was named Player of the Match for the unbeaten 83, his role in the final-ball escape from the Super Over via the relay catch, and the boundary that sealed the win. ESPNcricinfo’s Most Valuable Player metric registered Rinku Singh at 135.51 points for the contest.
The defending champions next travel to Delhi to play the Delhi Capitals, while Lucknow Super Giants regroup for their next assignment with their playoff chances now requiring a sustained turnaround across the remaining schedule.
What are the key takeaways from the Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders 38th match of IPL 2026 at Ekana Cricket Stadium?
- Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Lucknow Super Giants in the Super Over after the regulation match ended tied at 155, with Sunil Narine taking two wickets in three balls and Rinku Singh sealing the chase with a boundary off Prince Yadav.
- Rinku Singh struck an unbeaten 83 from 51 balls, the highest Twenty20 score of his career, and hit four consecutive sixes off Digvesh Singh Rathi in the 20th over to lift Kolkata Knight Riders from 129 for 7 to 155 for 7.
- Mohsin Khan recorded the first five-wicket haul of his Twenty20 career with figures of five for 23, the second-earliest five-for in IPL history when measured by overs into an innings.
- Mohammed Shami struck the final delivery of regulation for six off Kartik Tyagi to force the Super Over, after Kartik Tyagi conceded two waist-high no-balls earlier in the same over.
- The eighth-wicket partnership of 62 runs in 27 balls between Rinku Singh and Sunil Narine broke the previous Kolkata Knight Riders eighth-wicket record of 52 runs.
Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 38th Match, Indian Premier League 2026 scorecard
Result: Match tied. Kolkata Knight Riders won the Super Over.
Toss: Lucknow Super Giants won the toss and opted to bowl.
Match summary: Kolkata Knight Riders made 155-7 in 20 overs before Lucknow Super Giants also finished on 155-8 in 20 overs.
Closing match summary: Both teams finished level on 155 after 20 overs, with Rinku Singh’s unbeaten 83 anchoring Kolkata Knight Riders and Rishabh Pant’s 42 leading the Lucknow Super Giants reply. The tied contest was decided in the Super Over, where Kolkata Knight Riders prevailed.
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