(UTV | INDIA) – Prior to Tuesday’s face-off at MCS Stadium in Pune, both Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT) needed 2 points to book a playoff berth.
It was a simple equation, whosoever wins the game makes it to the knockouts. KL Rahul’s bowlers did a wonderful job by restricting Hardik Pandya & Co to a paltry 144/4 in such a crucial. But the batting unit completely failed to live up to the fans’ expectations.
In pursuit of the 145-run target, LSG were bundled out for 82, handing a 62-run victory to fellow debutant GT. The Titans became the first franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 to qualify for the playoffs.
Dejected over the defeat, LSG captain KL Rahul admitted that his team didn’t bat well on Tuesday night. Speaking at the post-match show, he lauded his bowler for restricting Gujarat to a low score, adding that the batters should have done a better job.
“We all knew it looked like a tricky wicket. That’s how it’s played here for the last two or three games that we played here. We knew it was a tricky and challenging pitch. But we bowled really well, I think.”
“Restricting a team under 150 is really commendable on any pitch and the bowlers did their job. We should have batted a lot better. Some poor shot selections and a runout didn’t help. Some good learning from this for us hopefully,” Rahul said at the presentation.
Rahul further stated that such big losses work as alarm bells for a side, especially when they have done well in the past. He said they took chances in order to provide a good start to the side but they didn’t come off.
“A loss for this is not what a team wants but sometimes you need a little reminder to keep turning up every game and keep doing your best. With these low totals, you want to make use of the Powerplay.”
“So, for me and Quinton, it was about getting the team off to a good start, not necessarily getting off to a 60-run Powerplay, but at least getting to 35 or 45 without losing too many wickets would have been ideal and set us up.”
“Because we knew the pitch was going to grip a bit and scoring runs after the Powerplay and hitting boundaries might be difficult, we took a few chances that didn’t come off.”
“In the middle, we knew that their spinners will be difficult to score off, but having said that we have to find ways to score runs against good opposition on tricky pitches. That’s something that we need to learn and figure out,” Rahul concluded.
LSG will now face the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.