The incident happened in the 11th over of the innings when things were desperate for LSG to score boundaries.
Lucknow Super Giants tried hard but eventually fell 14 runs short of the target to lose against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the eliminator of IPL 2022. This meant they were knocked out of the tournament after playing so well only to lose their way at the fag end of the league stage which led them to play the eliminator.
Chasing 208 runs, they didn’t get off to a good start losing Quinton de Kock early while KL Rahul also couldn’t get off the blocks soon. This is when Deepak Hooda, batting at number four, took the onus on himself to score some quick runs. He was hitting the ball hard and kept the RCB bowlers on the tenterhooks right through his innings.
However, during the 11th over of the chase, when Shahbaz Ahmed was bowling, Hooda completely lost his shape in an attempt to smother the ball out of the ground and ended up losing control of his bat as well.
Even as the left-arm spinner came on to bowl the fifth ball of the over, Hooda made room for himself and swung his bat hard only to miss the connection completely. However, he ended up losing the grip of his bat which flew towards the mid-wicket area. His partner KL Rahul helped him retrieve his bat then and the action resumed soon.
— Yashi (@Smash_Jaiswal) May 25, 2022
Nevertheless, Hooda batted exceptionally well to keep his side in the hunt during the steep chase. He scored 45 runs off just 26 balls with one four and four sixes at a strike rate of more than 170. He was castled by Wanindu Hasaranga in the 15th over just when runs had started to flow from both ends.
His wicket led to Rahul taking more risks. But he got out in the penultimate over which turned out to be the final nail in the coffin for LSG. Their skipper scored 79 runs but couldn’t take the team home only for LSG to get knocked out of IPL 2022. Meanwhile, RCB marched on to the second qualifier thanks to Rajat Patidar for his sensational 112* off 54 balls with the bat.
