Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul did not hold back when he spoke about their shortcomings after their biggest defeat by runs in the Indian Premier League against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. LSG were outplayed by the Knights in all facets of the match, leading to a 98-point defeat and potentially jeopardizing their hopes of a play-off spot. Rahul's decision to bowl after winning the toss quickly backfired as Sunil Narine went all guns blazing against the LSG bowling unit.
The inexperienced players succumbed to the pressure, leaking runs at a dizzying pace and allowing KKR to set the platform for a mammoth total of 235/6. Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur and Yudhvir Singh combined for 98 runs in just eight overs.
“A lot of runs could be scored in the second innings. When you chase a big total you try to go too hard and end up losing wickets. Just a poor performance overall. We didn't do that (hit our lengths consistently) , overall had a poor performance with bat, ball and in the field Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, in the powerplay we have seen how they bat and they put a lot of pressure on the opponent bowlers couldn't handle that kind of pressure and he batted some really good shots,” Rahul said after the match.
While LSG seemed clueless against the hard-hitting Narine, Rahul stated that they had plans to deal with KKR batters but got the execution part wrong.
“We prepare well in advance and talk about the opposition batters, we know our conditions here and we spend some time talking to the bowlers and talking to the batters to see what kind of plans we need to come up with. Once we get here, it's about execution and that's where we went wrong. Bowlers did their best but the young group… the sooner you learn it, the better it will be for the team,” Rahul added. .
At the match, LSG opted to field first after winning the toss. Narine's 81, combined with solid knocks from Phil Salt (32 in 14 balls, with five fours and a six), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (32 in 26 balls, with three fours and a six) and Ramandeep Singh (25* in six balls, with a four and three sixes) took KKR to 235/6 in their 20 overs.
Naveen-ul-Haq (3/49) was the bowlers' choice for LSG. Yash Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi and Yudhvir Singh got a wicket each.
Chasing 236, Lucknow lost wickets at regular intervals. Marcus Stoinis (36 in 21 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and skipper KL Rahul (25 in 21 balls, with three fours) were the top scorers as LSG bowled out for 137 in 16.1 overs.
Harshit Rana (24/3) and Varun Chakravarthy (3/30) were the top wicket-takers for KKR.
Sunil Narine took home the 'Player of the Match' for his one-wicket, 81-run knock.
After the loss, LSG dropped out of the Top-4 with a negative net run rate of 0.371. While KKR dethroned Rajasthan Royals and took the first place with 16 points.
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