IPL 2022 playoffs: Top five moments from LSG's road to the knockouts

The Lucknow Super Giants are having a terrific debut season in the Indian Premier League. LSG were the second team to qualify for the IPL 2022 playoffs after Gujarat Titans and are scheduled to face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator on 25 May. The journey to finishing third in the league phase was a result of some terrific work from a team that was only put together in February during the mega auctions. From top-order batters to the finishers and the bowlers, on different occasions, different players took the responsibility for the team and saw them through to vital wins. We take a look at the top moments from LSG’s road to the playoffs: Ayush Badoni arrives with fifty on debut [caption id=“attachment_10497811” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Lucknow’s Ayush Badoni slammed a fifty on his IPL debut. Image: Sportzpics[/caption] LSG’s first match of the season was against another debutant Gujarat Titans. And while the Lucknow franchise suffered a five-wicket defeat in the game, they ended up unearthing a new talent in Ayush Badoni. After a top and middle order failure, Badoni on his IPL debut helped LSG revive their innings as he slammed 54 off 41 including three sixes. Ignored at the domestic level by dubious selections calls, it was Badoni’s chance to shine and he grabbed it with both hands. He has so far made 161 runs in 13 matches. KL Rahul’s twin tons Only two batters have scored two or more centuries in the ongoing season of IPL 2022. Apart from Orange Cap holder Jos Buttler , LSG captain KL Rahul has been the most prolific run-getter this season. Buttler has smashed three centuries, while Rahul has two to his name. Both his centuries — identical scores of 103 not out — came in the two games against Mumbai Indians. The direct result was a double for LSG over the five-time champions. [caption id=“attachment_10594481” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  KL Rahul has scored two centuries so far in IPL 2022. Image: Sportzpics[/caption] Rahul with 537 runs is second in the Orange Cap race only to Buttler (629). In fact, he was in such great form at the start of the tournament that 368 out of his 537 runs came in the first eight matches including the two centuries. He made 68 not out in LSG’s last match and the franchise will hope for another great run of scores from the captain as they aim for the title in their debut season. Quinton de Kock- KL Rahul’s record partnership [caption id=“attachment_10695121” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Quinton de Kockmade 140 not out in the record partnership of 210. Image: Sportzpics[/caption] The best batting performance of the league phase also came from LSG in their game against Kolkata Knight Riders. Batting first, de Kock and Rahul put up an unbeaten opening stand of 210, the highest opening partnership in the history of IPL. It was also the first time in the history of the IPL that not a single wicket fell in the first innings of a match. De Kock was the star of the stand, scoring 140 off 70 as he slammed 10 fours and 10 sixes. Rahul made 68 off 51. The partnership also holds special importance as the victory over KKR in the match helped LSG qualify for the playoffs. Evin Lewis screamer vs KKR Despite de Kock and Rahul making an unbeaten stand of 210 in the match against KKR, LSG needed some inspirational bowling and fielding performance to beat Kolkata and seal a playoff spot. KKR gave a good fight in the match chasing a target of 211 and brought down the equation to 21 off the last over. Rinku Singh was going great guns and scored 18 off just four balls.

Evin Lewis, just unbelievable. What a one handed catch.#IPL20222 #KKRvsLSG pic.twitter.com/7EJcQVMLvY

— Harish Jangid (@HarishJ56732474) May 18, 2022

With just three needed from the last two balls, LSG were in need of some inspiration and it came in form of Even Lewis’ stunning catch on the penultimate ball of the match to dismiss Rinku. The West Indian perfectly timed his run from the deep backward point area to the extra-cover region and took a brilliant one-handed catch. KKR lost another wicket on the final ball of the match and LSG won by two runs. The emergence of Mohsin Khan [caption id=“attachment_10617081” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  At 5.93, Mohsin Khan has best economy rate in IP 022 among bowlers to have played at least eight matches. Image: Sportzpics[/caption] The left-arm pacer from Uttar Pradesh, Mohsin Khan, has been arguably the find of the season for LSG. With 13 wickets in eight matches in his debut IPL season, Mohsin gave LSG an unexpected extra edge. The most amazing factor has been his economy rate of 5.93. He has been equally good across different stages of the match. In fact, even in that high-scoring game against KKR, when 418 runs were made, Moshin only gave away 20 runs in four overs at an economy of just 5. Read all the  Latest News ****,  Trending News ****,  Cricket News ****,  Bollywood News ****,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook****,  Twitter and  Instagram****.