After an exciting run chase, the Lucknow Super Giants just succumbed to the Rajasthan Royals. At Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium on Saturday, April 27, both teams squared off in the tournament’s 44th match. After being put in to bat first in the match, the Lucknow Super Giants didn’t have a great start.
With Marcus Stoinis attempting a duck, opener Quinton de Kock was out of the game after just eight runs. In the opening moments of the match, the hosts were placed in a difficult position. The blowouts of KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda, however, contributed to LSG’s high total.
With 48 deliveries, KL Rahul scored 76 runs, and with 31 balls, Hooda scored 50. Despite scoring 196 runs in the first inning, LSG was unable to reach the mark as RR took seven wickets to win the match.
LSG captain KL Rahul spoke out following the match, stating that 220 runs would have been enough to defeat the Royals and even give their bowlers a cushion. He and Deepak Hooda should have scored 20 more runs.
Also read: Marcus Stoinis is duped by Sandeep Sharma’s in-swinger during LSG vs. RR, and the video becomes viral
“Deepak Hooda and I had a great partnership that helped us get back on track, even though we were about 20 runs behind.” We could have probably finished at 220 if Hooda and I had continued to bat and scored 20 more runs after we were set. As more games are being played, it is crucial for the batters to provide the bowlers with an extra cushion, as Rahul was cited by ESPNcricinfo.
I believe that we need to capitalise a little bit more. KL Rahul
Rahul also expressed his gratitude for the Rajasthan Royals’ first-inning ball-handling skills. Notably, Lucknow scored just 46 runs in the last five overs of the first inning and was 150 for 3 by the fifteenth over.
We had a solid position at 150 for 3 at the end of the 15th over, thanks to RR’s excellent bowling in the final few overs. That being said, Rahul stated, “I believe we could have scored 20–25 runs more and capitalised a little bit more.”