India, April 10 -- It was not supposed to unfold this way. Chasing 182, Lucknow Super Giants were 128/7, their hopes thinning with every dot ball. The equation-54 runs off 24 deliveries-felt less like a target and more like a formality. Kolkata Knight Riders were finally sensing some closure, perhaps at the cost of complacency. Possibly because in the middle stood a 21-year-old playing just his third IPL game, his second under lights, who had stalled at two runs off eight balls.

Choudhary didn't panic though. He has never been wired that way. "I try to take the game deep," he said later at the press conference. "If I stay till the end, I can win it." Over the next four overs, Choudhary struck seven sixes, each more audacious than the pre...