‘Horrible toss to lose’: KL Rahul highlights dew factor after RR beat KXIP by 7 wickets

KL Rahul highlights dew factor: The captain of Kings XI Punjab talked about how the dew factor affected their bowlers in the second innings.

During the 50th match of the ongoing 13th season of the Indian Premier League between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi, Rajasthan Royals beat Kings XI Punjab by 7 wickets to keep their chances alive with respect to qualifying for the playoffs.

In what a comprehensive victory, Royals made a mockery of a 186-run chase as they sealed it with 15 balls to spare. Unlike their previous victory against Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan thrived on the back of their Top four batsmen scoring as a team.

While opening batsman Ben Stokes gave a brisk start with their 50 (26), the likes of Sanju Samson (48), Steven Smith (31*) and Robin Uthappa (30) made things hard for Punjab’s bowlers.

KL Rahul highlights dew factor

Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, KXIP captain Lokesh Rahul explained how the dew factor affected his bowlers in the second innings. Lauding his bowlers’ attempt to defend a competitive total, Rahul considered the loss to be a one-off thing.

“It was a horrible toss to lose with the amount of dew later on. It did get very very easy to bat on. The wrist-spinners want the ball to be dry and get some grip off the surface but with the dew it got really difficult. On a sticky wicket, as it was when we batted, this was not a bad total.

“We didn’t bowl badly, but we need to learn to bowl better with the wet ball. The dew has been unpredictable. We spoke to the groundsman and he said there was no dew last game. You can’t prepare for it, but you have to be able to adapt to that,” Rahul told Star Sports.

Having lost their seventh match now, Kings XI have to beat Chennai Super Kings on Sunday to remain in contention for the playoffs.