Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul didn't hold back while talking about their shortcomings following 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 game which led to a 98-run defeat and possibly putting their hopes of a spot in playoffs in jeopardy. Rahul's decision to bowl after winning the toss backfired quickly as Sunil Narine went all guns blazing against the LSG bowling unit.
The inexperienced ones succumbed to the pressure, leaked runs at a staggering rate and allowed 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.
"It was a lot of runs to be scored in the second innings. When you are chasing a big total, you are trying to go too hard and you end up losing wickets. Just a poor performance overall. We didn't (hit our lengths consistently), just had a poor performance overall with bat, ball and in the field. Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, in the powerplay, we've seen how they bat and they do put a lot of pressure on the opposition. Our young bowlers couldn't handle that kind of pressure and he hit some really good shots," Rahul said after the game.
While LSG looked clueless against 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 do spend a little bit of time talking to the bowlers and talking to the batters trying to see what kind of plans we need to come up with. Once we come here, it's about execution and we went wrong in that part. Bowlers tried their best but the young group really ... the sooner you learn, the better it for the team," Rahul added.
Coming to the game, 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 pick of the bowlers for LSG. Yash Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi and Yudhvir Singh got a wicket each.
In a run chase of 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 bundled out for 137 in 16.1 overs.
Harshit Rana (3/24) 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 and 81-run knock.
After the defeat, LSG dropped out from the Top-4 spot with a negative net run rate of 0.371. While KKR dethroned Rajasthan Royals to take the top spot with 16 points.
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