LSG vs RR: "Team with more sixes ends up winning" - KL Rahul shares his bold take after loss to RR

KL Rahul's Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were up against Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals in the 44th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Saturday, April 27, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

LSG entered the match against the Royals after pulling off a historic chase against the Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, on April 23.

CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad had led from the front and smashed a brilliant century (108) and in-form Shivam Dube blasted an amazing half-century (66) to help CSK score 210 for 4. Chasing the target, Lucknow Super Giants looked in a miserable position and they lost wickets at regular intervals, but Marcus Stoinis' stupendous 124 runs steered LSG to a 6-wicket victory.  

Meanwhile, LSG were invited to bat first in the match against RR, and riding on KL Rahul's brilliant 76-run innings, the home team posted a good total of 196/5 on the board. 

However, during the second innings, LSG bowlers looked clueless while bowling to RR openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Although they somehow managed to get rid of openers, it didn't derail the momentum of RR as Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel joined forces to hit brilliant fifties and lead RR to a 7-wicket win.

I think we left about 20 runs behind - KL Rahul 

Speaking after the match, KL Rahul said that the Lucknow Super Giants were 20 runs short in the match as at one point they looked set to breach the 200-run total. KL Rahul elaborated:

"I think we left about 20 runs behind. We didn’t get an ideal start but with the partnership me and Hooda had was great. In these sorts of games, the set batter had to score close to a hundred after getting to 50-60. I think we were 150 after about 15 overs, should have capitalized on it a bit more."

KL Rahul also delivered a huge statement during the chat after the match, saying that the teams that hit more sixes usually win the matches. KL Rahul said:

"I think it is clear the team with more sixes ends up winning. We do try to hit our sixes but today we had to change our approach after those two early wicket. If Hooda pushed on and scored 20 more, and I got 20 more then we’d finish around 220. That would have been the difference, that’s the 20 runs we left behind. 

"We’re seeing with every game how important it is to give the bowlers that extra cushion because they are under the pump. Everyone loves range hitting and hitting it all over the park, we are no different. It is part of the prep. Our big hitters are Stoin and Pooran who can hit those big shots. The other guys like us try to pick our areas and time the shots better."

KL Rahul in the end talked about the leg-spinners Amit Mishra and Ravi Bishnoi and he justified his decision not to give more than one over to Bishnoi. KL Rahul elaborated:

"(On Mishra and Bishnoi) There is a bit of chat before the game with the numbers and how opposition players match-up. Mishra is an experienced player and today was a day we knew he could be useful with how slow he bowls and with the larger boundaries. Once the runs kept flowing, they put pressure on our bowlers. There were 2-3 overs when Krunal bowled really well and squeezed them but then they attacked the fast bowlers. I couldn’t get a good time to get Bishnoi, wanted to keep him for the backend when Rovman and Hetmyer came out to bat because we know he can bowl well to them."

With five wins and three losses in eight matches, Lucknow Super Giants bagged the fourth spot on the points table with 10 points ahead of their match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and they had a Net Run Rate of 0.148. Now after the conclusion of the match, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have retained the position.