'It Is So Against The T20 Trend...,' KL Rahul After Massive Win Over PBKS
PBKS vs LSG (Source: BCCI/IPL)
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper KL Rahul said that the break his players had after that heart-wrenching defeat against the Gujarat Titans last week played a huge role in them coming out all guns blazing like they did against the Punjab Kings in Mohali on Friday night.
The Super Giants looked a team transformed on Friday as their batters barring skipper Rahul went hell for leather from the word go, obliterating the Punjab Kings' attack into pieces.
Kyle Mayers started the onslaught by smashing a brutal 24-ball 54, and then Marcus Stoinis (72 off 40) and Nicholas Pooran (45 off 19) and co took it to another level to power LSG to an insurmountable total of 257/5 in 20 overs.
Speaking to the host broadcaster post a comfortable 56-run win, Rahul heaped high praise on his batters for rebounding in stunning style after a poor evening at the office last week.
He also emphasized on the importance of every win from here on, as the tournament approaches its business end.
Here's what KL Rahul said:
"It is so against the T20 trend. Can't put a finger on it. Happy that we got the win. Every game from now on would be very important. We had a break after the last game. We came back fresher after that. We were clear as to how to bat. When you see such wickets, you get excited as batters. Getting 250 speaks highly of how we batted. You are familiar with what you can expect. Just being familiar to wickets helps. We always talk about setting the tone at the start. We had guys like Mayers, Stoinis. Badoni has been batting well. Hooda as well. The think tank does most of the thinking and I try to understand what they are thinking. And if it suits us, we go through with the plan."
In reply, Punjab got off to a worse possible start as they lost both their openers, including the comeback man, Shikhar Dhawan cheaply. From there on, it was a matter of when they will lose rather than if they will lose even as the likes of Atharva Taide did light up the stage with some admirable hitting.
Courtesy of Friday's win, LSG have now moved on to the 2nd spot while PBKS are languishing at six.
 "Yash Mittal")
