Bengaluru: Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul credited Pooran and Stoinis for the two points on the table the team mopped up after beating Royal Challengers Bangalore Monday night. Rahul who was seen struggling with the bat said he was confident of improving his strike-rate in the coming matches of the Indian Premier League.
While chasing down 213 against the RCB, the visitors were off to a poor start. Rahul who led the side couldn't get his batting rhythm right and he took 30 balls to score his 18 runs before being dismissed off a Mohammad Siraj delivery and a comfortable catch by Virat Kohli in the square leg.
Super Giants second-most expensive player Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis destroyed the RCB bowling attack and helped place LSG on a comfortable position. LSG were three down for 23 runs into their fourth over. This is when Pooran and Stoinis began working on the RCB bowlers. Pooran who was purchased for Rs 16 crore was adjudged the player of the match for his knock of 62 off 19 deliveries.
"Unbelievable. I mean it's the Chinnaswamy. I've grown up here and I think it's the stadium with most last-ball finishes. From the position we were in. We were chasing 210+ and we knew we had to go hard and attack but sometimes when you do that you lose wickets," KL Rahul said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Also read- IPL 2023: Pooran, Stoinis hand LSG memorable win over RCB
"They (RCB) bowled well in the powerplay, they swung it well. But the way Stoinis and Pooran played, if we have two points today it's because of them," Rahul attributed the victory to their play. "If you look at the middle order, No. 5, 6 and 7, they win you the crunch games. The top order will get the bulk of runs but it's those positions that matter and that's why we invested in power in Pooran, Stoinis and Badoni. And Badoni is learning to finish games," Rahul said.
On his poor strike rate, the LSG's costliest buy at Rs 17 crore said things would improve and that he felt that he had done the right thing today. "If I score more runs, the strike-rate will go up. I looked at the situation and I feel I had done the right thing. Hopefully with a couple of good knocks the strike rate will go up."
