KKR vs LSG, IPL 2022: Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul were given option to retire out, says LSG coach Andy Flower – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Lucknow Super Giants head coach Andy Flower has revealed that openers Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul were given an option to retire out during their marathon knocks against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022, on Wednesday.

De Kock and Rahul created a new opening record in IPL history in the match as they put up an unbroken 210-run stand. The South African De Kock was the main aggressor as he scored 140 runs off 70 balls and smashed 10 fours and 10 sixes. Rahul scored 68 off 51 and hit three sixes.

KL Rahul and Quinton De Kock did not take the option to retire out during the KKR vs LSG IPL 2022 match. Sportzpics

Flower spoke about the team’s strategy to potentially retire out their openers midway through the match. However, both openers did not take the option and got LSG to a winning total of 210.

“It’s a helluva score, they batted beautifully,” Flower said at the post-match press conference. “We’ve been seeing some special batting from both of them this season and again that was brilliant to watch. They are both beautiful batters to watch. At the end of the 18th over, we sent a message on saying, ‘If you guys are too tired hitting the ball hard, you can retire and we’ll send some of our big-hitters in.

“These boys, all of them, from 1 to 9 can hit the ball hard like that. One boundary is a big boundary, so Quinton hitting balls like that, who’s not renowned for his big-hitting actually, that’d have given him a lot of satisfaction. One thing’s for sure, if you ever get complacent in this game, it comes and bites you. That is one message we’ll put out there. If we do the basics well, we’ll be in a good position.”

KKR also put a thrilling effort in reply and lost the match by a slim margin of two runs as they got knocked out of IPL 2022 title run.

KKR captain Shreyas Iyer said it was “one of the best” matches of his career.

“I am not feeling sad at all. That was one of the best games of cricket I have played. The way we should our character and attitude was simply outstanding,” said Iyer after the match.

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