Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) secured a comfortable 98-run win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Sunday at Ekana Stadium. LSG’s decision to go first proved costly Sunil Narine showcased his batting prowess, hitting 81 runs off 39 balls, including seven sixes and six fours. The strong finish of Shreyas Iyer (23 of 15) and Ramandeep Singh (25 off 6) helped KKR become the first team to break the 200-run mark in Lucknow, posting an impressive total of 235 for 6.
KKR showed their skills not only with the bat but also with the ball. Varun ChakrabortyThe impressive figures of 3 wickets for 30 runs in 3 overs and Hard ranaThe effective spell of 3 wickets for 24 runs in 3.1 overs played a key role in restricting LSG to just 137 runs in 16.1 overs. Notably, none of the LSG batters managed to hit a fifty in the match.
KL Rahul comments on LSG’s crushing defeat
At the presentation after the game, LSG captain KL Rahul expressed his disappointment with his team’s overall performance and attributed this to the defeat. Reflecting on the run chase, Rahul pointed out that while chasing big targets, batters tend to take big hits, which results in loss of wickets.
“A lot of runs were scored in the second innings. If you are looking for a high total, try to play too hard and you will end up losing wickets. Overall just a poor performance. We didn’t (consistently hit our stride), but just a poor overall performance with the bat, the ball and on the field.Rahul said in the post-match presentation.
Rahul praises KKR batters
Rahul praised the KKR batters, especially Narine and Phil Saltfor KKR’s quick start where they collected 61 runs in just 4.2 overs.
“During the power play, we observed Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, how they go about their shots and how they put pressure on the opponent. Our young bowlers found it difficult to withstand this pressure and Narine played some excellent shots.” explained the wicketkeeper-batter.
Rahul further noted that teams in the IPL face difficult challenges against experienced players, which serves as a test of character. He admitted that their team fell short of expectations in the game. He also mentioned that the pitch provided good bounce to the bowlers without causing any exceptional difficulty.
“That’s what IPL is like, you come up against really good players and then your character is tested. We weren’t up to date. The wicket was really good, it felt like a pretty real wicket, there was a bit of bounce when bowling hard lengths and back-of-a-lengths but nothing out of the ordinary and it didn’t seem like a pitch that was really bad was. 235 was probably 20 or 30 runs above average and our batting was really poor. When you strive for such great success, you are under pressure, it is always difficult. We prepare well in advance and talk about the opposing batters. We know our conditions here and we’re spending a little time talking to the bowlers and the batters to figure out what plans we need to come up with. Once we get here, it’s all about execution and we made a mistake on that part.” Rahul added.
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LSG captain talks about the team’s playoff qualification
Rahul noted that Sunday’s game concluded their home games for this IPL season The team is now preparing for three away games in a row. With regards to qualifying for the playoffs, the 32-year-old stressed that it is clear that they need to pick up wins in all their remaining games in order to finish the league phase in the top four.
“This is our last home game for us, so we are on the road for the next three games. It’s pretty clear to us: If you want to get into the top four, you have to win all the games. That gives us a little bit of freedom to go out there and be a little bit more fearless and a little bit braver to take on the game.” he concluded.