“Stupid Cricket with the bat”: KL Rahul expresses disappointment over LSG batting performance despite 20-run win vs Punjab Kings in IPL 2022

KL Rahul expresses disappointment over LSG’s lackluster performance with the bat after being put into bat first against PBKS in IPL 2022. 

During the 42nd match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League at the MCA Stadium in Pune, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), continuing with their impressive all-round performance in their debut IPL season, defeated the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 20 runs.

Having posted a modest total of 153/8 in their 20 Overs, on a pitch that was a tad challenging to bat on, the LSG bowlers came back beautifully during the middle Overs of the Punjab chase, to restrict the PBKS batters to a paltry 133/8 in their 20 Overs.

Krunal Pandya, for his impressive bowling figures of 4-1-11-2, including a wicket-maiden during the 14th Over, was adjudged the ‘Player of the match’.

KL Rahul expresses disappointment over LSG’s batting performance

Earlier, despite losing their skipper KL Rahul (6 off 11) in the 3rd Over of the match, the LSG stitched a solid 85-run partnership for the 2nd wicket between Deepak Hooda (34 off 28) and Quinton de Kock (46 off 37) to come back into the contest.

However, post losing de Kock in the 13th Over, the rest of the batters fell like ninepins as the scorecard, from 98/1, read 111/6 in no time.

A few crucial hits from the lower order, meant that KL Rahul’s men huffed and puffed to 153/8 to provide their bowlers a decent enough cushion on a sluggish track.

Post the victory, KL Rahul, despite a comfortable victory in the end, revealed that he was ‘disappointed and fuming’ after the end of the innings despite acknowledging that it wasn’t an ideal pitch to post a huge total on.

“I was disappointed and fuming at the end of the first innings. Stupid cricket with the bat. It does happen but we did talk about it at the time-out. We did talk that we can defend 160 as this wasn’t a great pitch. The crucial runs at the back end and then the execution with the ball helped us win. We need to get better with the bat,” exclaimed Rahul during the post-match presentation.

With 6 wins out of 9 matches, LSG are now placed at the third spot in the points table.