KKR vs MI: Kolkata Knight Riders face massive blow after LSG win; unable to land their flight in Kolkata

The Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had a really great day on the field on Monday, May 6, but after their massive 98-run win over the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in an IPL 2024 clash at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, they had a harrowing time while traveling back to Kolkata.

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team met a troublesome incident on Monday evening during their journey from Lucknow to Kolkata following their final IPL 2024 match against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Heavy rainfall in the eastern region of the country disrupted their flight plans, leading to a series of unexpected events that would have certainly scared the players.

According to updates provided by the KKR, Shreyas Iyer and his team departed from Lucknow at 5:45 pm IST with a scheduled landing time of 7:25 pm in Kolkata. However, at 8:46 PM, it was announced that their charter flight had to be redirected to Guwahati due to adverse weather conditions over Kolkata.

KKR's joy turns into frustration due to heavy rain in Kolkata

After landing in Guwahati, the KKR team received clearance to resume their journey to Kolkata at 9:43 PM, with an expected arrival time of 11:00 PM. Unfortunately, their suffering did not end there, as another message received at 1:15 AM IST revealed further complications as there was torrential rain in Kolkata.

Despite departing from Guwahati to Kolkata with an estimated arrival time of 11:00 PM, the flight was unable to land in Kolkata due to persistent bad weather conditions. Despite multiple attempts, KKR's charter flight was unable to land in Kolkata and was subsequently diverted mid-air to Varanasi, where it finally landed at 3 AM.

The KKR media official revealed that “the team would be checking into Varanasi Hotel (Taj Ganges) for an overnight stay. Return flight to Kolkata TBD on May 7 afternoon. The flight is expected to leave Varanasi at 1.15 p.m. on Tuesday.”

Here's KKR's official update on the matter:

Update at 3:00 AM: KKR team would be checking into Varanasi hotel for overnight stay. Return flight to Kolkata TBD on Tuesday (7 May) afternoon. Stay safe, Kolkata 💜

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) May 6, 2024

It is a big relief for both KKR and IPL, as their next match is not until Saturday, May 11, providing them with almost a week's break since their last game against LSG in Lucknow. They secured the top spot on the IPL 2024 points table with a remarkable 98-run win over LSG.

Their upcoming game is against the Mumbai Indians (MI) at home in Eden Gardens on May 11. After that, they wrap up their league fixtures in the ongoing IPL 2024 with matches against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on May 13 and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati on May 19.

Speaking about the LSG vs KKR match, Sunil Narine’s another stunning knock of 81 runs off 39 balls, Harshit Rana's (3/34), and Varun Chakravarthy’s (3/30) remarkable bowling efforts helped the Kolkata team beat Lucknow by 98 runs in Match No. 54 of the ongoing IPL 2024.

For LSG, Marcus Stoinis was the top run scorer with 36 runs, while Naveen-ul-Haq (3/49) was the standout performer for the hosts with the ball against the KKR at Ekana Cricket Stadium.