Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane gave credit to Mukul Choudhary after Lucknow Super Giants registered a thrilling three-wicket win at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Thursday. LSG were down and out in the run chase of 182, but the youngster was able to turn a corner.

Choudhary scored a smashing knock of 54 runs off just 27 balls with the help of two fours and seven maximums, the most by a batter batting at number seven or below in IPL history.

The right-hander scored his runs at a strike rate of 200 and got LSG over the line when they needed 30 runs off the last two overs. Choudhary got off to a sedate start as he was two off eight balls, and it looked like the end of the chase for LSG, but the youngster had other ideas.

Ajinkya Rahane said after the loss, while talking to the broadcasters, “Tough one to take. Really proud of the boys for the way we played. I thought Mukul’s (Choudhary) knock was defining. The way he played his shots, he was brave. But again, games like these, you don’t want to pinpoint too many things. I thought till 18 overs, we were going really good.”

Rahane reckons his bowlers could have executed better in the last couple of overs, but doffed his hat to Choudhary for his match-winning knock.

He added, “Last two overs, execution here and there can happen. But credit to Mukul and that partnership. (pace off into the wicket length had worked well for you) Yeah, those deliveries did work. For them (LSG), it was nothing to lose. Two overs, 30 runs to win. Every ball it was about swinging. And I thought as I said he was really brave to play those shots. There were some brilliant shots. I thought there a couple of brilliant deliveries (bowled), but the way he batted was amazing.”

KKR will next take on Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Tuesday.