Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 6 (ANI): After enduring a 98-run defeat in front of their home fans against Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul admitted that they need to win all their games to qualify for the playoffs of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024.
LSG had the opportunity to take a step closer to the playoffs but a thumping defeat at the Ekana Cricket Stadium has put their hopes in jeopardy. LSG fell out of the Top-4 spot allowing Sunrisers Hyderabad to take their place.
While talking about their chances to make the cut for the knockout stage for a third consecutive time, Rahul stated to give themselves a chance, the Giants need to emerge triumphant in their remaining three games.
“It’s pretty clear for us, if you want to get to the top four, you got to win all the games. That will give us a little bit of freedom to go out there and be a little bit more fearless, a little bit brave to take on the game,” Rahul said after the game.
LSG bowlers fell to the pressure, leaked runs at a staggering rate and allowed KKR to set the platform for a herculean total of 235/6.
Sunil Narine was KKR’s driving force throughout the game, he gave respect to good deliveries and smashed the ones that wavered even a little bit from its designated path. He scored 81 off just 39 deliveries which was laced with 6 boundaries and 7 maximums.
“We’ve made a couple of mistakes when we’ve come up against batters like Sunil and anyone that’s powerful. That type of intimidation puts pressure on our bowlers. That’ll be the chat once we get back to the dressing room – move on from this game, see where we went wrong and try and get better. This is our last home game for us, so we are on the road for the next three games,” Rahul stated.
LSG needed a performance like Sunil Narine to raise a glimmer of hope of walking away with two points. But they hardly had any answers for Harshit Rana’s pace and Varun Chakaravarthy’s spin.
“That’s how IPL is, you come up against really good players and that’s when your character is tested. We weren’t up to the mark. The wicket was really good, felt like a pretty true wicket, there was a bit of bounce if you bowled hard lengths and back of a lengths, but nothing out of the ordinary and it didn’t seem like a really bad pitch. 235 was probably 20 or 30 runs above par and our batting performance was really poor. When you’re chasing such a big score, you’re under pressure, it’s always hard,” Rahul said.
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. (ANI)
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