IPL 2022: LSG skipper KL Rahul lauds all-rounders for victory against MI
Apr 25, 2022
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 25 : After defeating Mumbai Indians by 36 runs on Sunday, Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul lauded his team's performance and said having all-rounders in the team gave them options.
KL Rahul's unbeaten knock of 103 and Krunal Pandya's three-wicket haul guide Lucknow Super Giants to a 36-run win against Mumbai Indians here at the Wankhede Stadium.
"Will have to make up for all the over rates and fines I'm getting (with his Player of the Match awards). Trying to play according to the situation, see what's expected out of me. Enjoying batting, enjoying the responsibility. Fingers crossed I can keep doing the right things. My first thought was just getting the bat on the ball, feel good, get that single," said KL Rahul in a post-match presentation.
In the match, Rahul went on to score his second century of the season and his fourth in IPL overall.
"When you've played in a venue that's been good to me previously, but not so much in the last two games, just wanted to get that single first. Lucky that I could score as much as I did. I try and assess the pitch and conditions and see what's best I could do for the team. With this team, we do bat deep. Holder is batting at eight," he added.
The captain praised his all-rounders for brilliant performance against MI as they registered their fifth win of the season.
"With the depth, you can play a bit more freely. That's probably the only reason (for his higher strike rate). Teams that can defend well, or bowl well in the powerplay and finish off well in the death overs are teams that have won the tournament. We were very clear going into the auctions - I'm big on having allrounders in the team. Having them in the team, makes my life easier with the options," said Rahul.
Coming to the match, Mumbai Indians got off to a steady start as Rohit Sharma batted aggressively but wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan batted a bit too cautiously as the duo scored 43 runs in six overs of powerplay. Indians struggled for the partnership against LSG.
MI needed a mere impossible 39 runs to win off the last over of the match where Krunal Pandya dismissed Kieron Pollard for 19.
One ball later Jaydev Unadkat was run out for 1 and Krunal took his third wicket of the match dismissing Daniel Sams for 3 as Mumbai were restricted to 132/8 in 20 overs falling 36 runs short of the target and succumbing to their eighth defeat of the season. Rohit Sharma led Mumbai to lose their eighth consecutive match of the season.
