In the fifty-fourth game of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), the Lucknow Super Giants suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders. On Sunday, May 5, at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, both teams engaged in combat. When the game started, KKR chose to bat first and put on a fantastic display at the bat, scoring 235 runs in the opening half.
LSG, on the other hand, lost the game by 98 runs despite only managing to score 137 runs during the run chase. Interestingly, it was the first time in seven Lucknow matches of the IPL 2024 that a team has scored 200 or more when batting first.
Speaking about his team’s performance, LSG captain KL Rahul took the pitch and said that his team’s attempt to chase the massive target was met with early wicket losses, characterising it as a subpar effort.
“You want to go hard when you’re chasing a huge total, but you lose wickets. KL Rahul stated as much during the post-match presentation ceremony. “So just a poor performance overall.”
Rahul also stated that LSG’s bowlers were under pressure from the opening pair of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine early on, and he disclosed that his team’s youthful bowlers were unable to withstand such strain.
“Their batting has been seen. Our young bowlers simply weren’t able to take the pressure that they were putting on the opposition. In the Indian Premier League, you will face some of the best players in the world, and that’s when your mettle is put to the test. Narine struck some really, really good strokes. And I believe we fell short today,” KL Rahul remarked.
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“Once we get here [in Lucknow], it comes down to execution, and we made a mistake there. Bowlers gave it their all. But for our team, the sooner you find out, the better,” he continued.