Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant rued dropped catches after they suffered a five-wicket loss against Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Sunday. Defending a decent score of 204 runs, LSG could not take their chances in the field.

Prashant Veer was dropped twice by Digvesh Singh Rathi and Nicholas Pooran in the penultimate over of the innings. Furthermore, Urvil Patel, who smashed a blistering knock of 65 runs off 23 balls, was also dropped by Digvesh Rathi.

Rishabh Pant said in the post-match presentation, “Definitely. I think it was a great game. Everything was coming out nicely. We knew we were going to put enough pressure on in the power play because when you practice like that, that’s the kind of cricket you look forward to. But at the same time, I feel like there was enough time. In T20 cricket, the fielding standards have to be up there. Too many catches dropped and  like you said, but it’s difficult to put it on just one thing. But a lot of character shown to comeback from there was really good.”

Pant heaped praise on Josh Inglis and Urvil Patel, who both played substantial knocks for their respective teams. While Inglis scored a majestic knock of 85 runs off 33 balls, Patel completed the joint fastest fifty in IPL history off 13 balls and eventually scored 65 runs.

Pant concluded, “Urvil played a fantastic, unbelievable knock like Inglis for us, we knew in the power play, someone has to take that charge and that’s what Inglis did for us. And for CSK, it was Urvil. But at the same time, the team showed a lot of character. Definitely some areas where we can work out, but kudos to CSK. They held on to their nerves better than us.”

Lucknow Super Giants are now officially out of the playoffs race.