Mumbai: Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul on Sunday rued his batters' collective failure in a few matches in this IPL and said his team will need to find a way to not lose wickets early when there is movement of the ball. Rajasthan Royals inched closer to securing a play-offs berth with a convincing 24-run win over LSG here. Both RR and LSG are now tied on 16 points from 13 matches and need another win to confirm their place in the next stage of the tournament. Thanks to their margin of victory, RR also toppled LSG from the second place.
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"Losing two wickets was bad, we've lost games because of that before. So we need to find ways to get a good start when there is movement with the ball. Executing what we want to is the aim," Rahul said at the post-match presentation ceremony. "Holding our nerve and give ourselves a chance to play out the new ball or play out a good spell. There's often enough time to make up and go big from there."
Batting first, Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scored with 41 while Devdutt Padikkal blazed away to an 18-ball 39, as Rajasthan Royals posted 178 for six. Skipper Sanju Samson made 32 off 24 balls. Ravi Bishnoi was the most successful bowler for LSG, picking 2/31 in four overs.
In reply, LSG were stopped at 154 for eight. The Super Giants got off to a terrible start as Trent Boult (2/18) sent back two of their top batters -- Quinton de Kock (7) and Ayush Badoni (0) -- in successive deliveries in the beginning of the third over. "It was a gettable target, a good pitch. New ball was assisting the bowlers. We were good with the ball, the batting group has not performed collectively in a few games. We have to go back and get better," Rahul said.
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"The pitch at Pune was harder. This was a better pitch. There was seam movement earlier and they bowled well." RR captain Sanju Samson, who opted to bat after winning the toss, said it "suits their approach". "This win was satisfying. The atmosphere is chilled and nice, it's not easy to maintain it when there are losses and we have done it well. Batting first suits our approach well, we want to bat positively and the bowling unit is good as well," Samson said.
Asked about returning to the usual batting order after experimenting with Ravichandran Ashwin at the top-order, he said, "Decisions are judged by results, Ashwin did well last game as well." He also praised Jimmy Neesham for the energy he brought on to the field. As far as using Ashwin in different phases was concerned, Smason said, "The bonus of having quality spinners is you can use them anywhere."
PTI
