Diamond duck in cricket: KL Rahul run out without facing a ball in LSG vs KKR IPL 2022 match

Diamond duck in cricket: KL Rahul was thrown under their bus by his fellow opener Quinton de Kock on the very first Over versus KKR.

During the 53rd match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League at the MCA Stadium in Pune, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) got off to a worst possible start, with their skipper KL Rahul getting dismissed at the score of naught against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

In what can be arguably stated as the most unlucky manner to head back towards the dug out for any player, Rahul had to leave the 22-yard turf without even facing a delivery.

It all happened on the fifth delivery of the match being bowled by the Kiwi quick Tim Southee after KKR won the Toss and elected to field first. Southee bowled an inswinging delivery to the felt-handed Quinton de Kock, to which the LSG wicket-keeper drove the ball uppishly towards the cover region.

De Kock quickly set off for the single to which Rahul naturally responded. However, only after almost one-and-a-half strides the Proteas batter halted mid-way, only to find his LSG skipper stranded on the middle of the turf.

Rahul did try to get back, but a direct hit from Shreyas Iyer meant that he was well short of the crease.

Diamond duck in cricket

Getting out without facing a delivery, KL Rahul was thus dismissed on a rare Diamond duck. Unfortunately for the 30-year-old, this was his third Duck this season, with the previous ones being Golden Ducks, against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Gujarat Titans (GT). Moreover, LSG lost both the matches when he was dismissed for a Duck.

The KKR, on the other hand, have got off to a great enough start having got rid of LSG’s highest run-scorer this season so far, without breaking a sweat. For those unaware, this is a do-or-die match for the Shreyas Iyer-led side as far as their playoffs qualification is concerned.