Lucknow: Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul saw his team go from a winning position to defeat in the IPL against Gujarat Titans on Saturday. Cruising at one point in the 136 run chase, LSG were put under pressure and buckled to a 7 run defeat in Lucknow.
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LSG were 105/1 after 14 overs with 31 needed off 36 deliveries and had a set KL Rahul in the middle to take them past the finish line. However, they could only musrer 128/7 by the end of the 20 overs in yet another baffling finish in the T20 league.
KL Rahul reached his fifty run mark off 33 balls. But it took him 28 balls to scored the next 18 runs for a final 68 runs from 61 balls.
“I don’t know how it happened, but it has happened. I can’t put a finger on where it went wrong, but we lost two points today, this is cricket,” KL Rahul said at the post-match presentation.
“We started well with the bat, but these things happen, we’ll have to take it on the chin.”
Rahul, however, believes LSG should have attacked earlier considering they had wickets in hand.
“We were well ahead in the game and I wasn’t really trying to bat deep, I still wanted to play my shots, take on the bowlers, but they bowled well in that 2-3 over period, by Noor and Jayant.”
“We perhaps should have taken a few more chances with wickets in hand, they bowled decently, but I think we missed out on some boundary opportunities.”
“The pressure got to us in the last 3-4 overs, we played well until then. They did bowl well though,” he added.
Winning captain Hardik Pandya said a win like this can boost the team’s confidence. “After the two games we lost, this seems like god is telling us I am not always going to take from you, I will give to you too,” he said.
“The way the environment changed when we got wickets, the belief we had, was wonderful to watch. In a tournament like this, one loss can break you, but such a win can do the opposite.”
On his team strategy, Pandya said, “At best, we could have score 10 more runs. That’s how the wicket was. During the strategic timeout, we spoke about the set batter batting longer because the new batter was going to find it difficult.”
Pandya said he could feel there was a chance for his team with five overs to go. “When there was 30 required off 30, I felt they were ahead. We started sniffing something when it came down to 27 off 4 overs. A run a ball off 10 overs is different, but when it comes down to 24 off 24, you know a mistake can cost you the game. That’s when the game changes.”
When asked why Pandya gave the ball to Mohit he said, “The amount of cricket Mohit has played, I didn’t need to tell him anything. The calmness, planning and execution he showed, it was tremendous.
“At same time, Shami showed his experience. Mohit and Shami were tremendous. Special mention to Jayant as well, playing after such a long time. Obviously Noor has some talent.”
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