IPL 2023: After a shocking defeat to Gujarat Titans, fans and experts put the blame on Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul. He scored 68 off 61 balls in a 136-chase but LSG still lost the game. While his snail-paced knock was enough evidence of what went wrong, Rahul refused to take the blame. Instead, he seemed confused, saying “I can’t believe what just happened” at the post-match presentation. Follow IPL 2023 LIVE updates with InsideSport.IN.
For those who are unaware, LSG scored at 8.83 in the powerplay, at 6.5 in the middle overs. And with the Ekana Stadium wicket slowing down further, LSG scored at just 3.83 run rate. The hosts lost 4 wickets in the last over to throw the match away and behind the loss, the blame goes to Rahul who scored at just 111.48 strike rate, consuming more than half the allotted deliveries. In the end, LSG failed 7 runs short failing to score 31 off 35 with 9 wickets in hand.
“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 2 points today, this is cricket. 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,” KL Rahul said after the match.
KL Rahul said, “I can’t believe what has just happened”. pic.twitter.com/DexPB69AWV
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 22, 2023
KL Rahul on the his team’s shocking loss
At the end of 15 overs, LSG had full control over the match as they had 106/2 runs on the board with 30 runs to chase in 30 balls. But after that, everything started to fall apart for LSG.
“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,” LSG skipper KL Rahul said after the match.
LSG bowlers produced some sensational spells to keep GT batters silent. Krunal Pandya 2/16 and Marcus Stoinis 2/20 picked up wickets at the crucial time to unsettle GRT batters and kept them away from crossing the average run mark.
“I thought we were brilliant with the ball, 135 was 10 runs under par, the bowling was exceptional, we started well with the bat, but these things happen, we’ll have to take it on the chin,” he added.
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