Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul admitted losing wickets in the powerplay overs throughout the season led to the team’s downfall. LSG suffered a 19-run loss against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Tuesday. 

DC posted a par score of 208 runs on the board after KL Rahul decided to bowl first. However, Rahul feels they should have chased down the target in batting-friendly conditions.

But LSG lost four wickets in the Powerplay overs and they were always chasing the game from there on. 

Meanwhile, LSG got the big wicket of in-form Jake Fraser-McGurk for a duck but they could not capitalize as Shai Hope and Abishek Porel added 92 runs for the second wicket. Porel completed his fifty off 21 balls whereas Tristan Stubbs continued his rich form, scoring an unbeaten 25-ball 57 to add the finishing touches.

On the other hand, Nicholas Pooran was able to hit the ground running despite his team losing four early wickets. Pooran scored 61 from 27 balls whereas Arshad Khan gave a glimmer of hope to his team with an attacking knock of 58 runs off 33 balls but it was not enough to see their team through.

KL Rahul said after the loss, “I feel the wicket remained the same throughout the 40 overs. When we got JFM out in the first over we should have capitalized, but they – Hope and Porel – showed a lot of intent. We did well at the back end and 200 was a par total, we should have chased it down.”

He added, “This has been a problem right through the season – we keep losing a lot of wickets in the powerplay, we never get a solid start to get the likes of Stoinis and Pooran in, that is the big reason why we are in this position.”

With this loss, LSG is all but knocked out of the playoffs race. They will play their last league stage match of the season against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Friday.