Chasing 177, Kolkata Knight Riders were dismissed for 101 against the Lucknow Super Giants, who registered a big 75-run win at the MCA Stadium, Pune on Saturday. After the loss, Shreyas Iyer and co are placed on the eighth rung of the IPL 2022 points table with four wins and seven losses. They are on the verge of being knocked out of the playoffs race. 

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LSG left KKR tottering at 25 for four with four bowlers picking up their first wickets. While Mohsin produced a wicket-maiden to get rid of to Baba Indrajith, Chameera sent back Shreyas Iyer after rattling him with a short and quick delivery. The two-time champions were soon 85/6 and 99/8. 

Their innings was wrapped up in 14.3 overs. 

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“They outplayed us in both the departments – batting and bowling. We got off to a bad start in the powerplay and also we leaked a lot of runs in the death overs. We couldn’t read how it (the pitch) was going to play, and based on that we elected bowling. I thought we could have restricted them to 155-160,” KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer said after the match. 

KKR were in control of the first innings midway. But then pacer Shivam Mavi gave away 30 runs in the 19th. 

Kolkata’s head coach Brendon McCullum said that the team’s struggle in the powerplay is a major reason behind the disappointing campaign. 

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“We struggled in the power play which has been a frustration for us throughout the season. We’ve been good throughout the middle phase and not too bad at the death. But in the power play we’ve been a little stuck and we’ve to find a method to not lose many wickets and also throw a few punches and get a few boundaries,” McCullum said at the post match press conference.

Kolkata have tried several opening combinations this seasn. None of the batters have been able to fire at the top. 

“If you look around other teams at the top of the table, one of their opening batters is also one of their highest run-scorers. It’s an area we haven’t been able to settle. Unfortunately, some of the guys haven’t been in the form that they would have liked to. That happens, sometimes. In a quick tournament, you do have to sometimes change personnel. It’s been a little frustrating. But the guys have been working really hard, it hasn’t necessarily worked out for us but can’t fault their effort,” the coach said.