At the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday, April 22, the Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by seven runs, despite KL Rahul’s half-century. The right-handed batsman failed to meet the required run total of 136 by scoring 68 runs off 61 balls at a poor strike rate of 111.48, including eight boundaries. Up until Rahul left the game unexpectedly, the Super Giants were in control of the situation. In the 20th over, Mohit Sharma bowled KL Rahul, and Jayant Yadav successfully caught him at square leg to turn the game in GT’s favor.
To tie the game, the Titans got three more players out in a quick succession of balls. KL Rahul’s slow innings while chasing a modest goal earned him harsh criticism from Twitter users.
Some of the greatest responses are listed below:
KL Rahul always plays for personal milestones. Never tried to hit boundaries even after completing the fifty.
— Saikrishna సాయికృష్ణ (@Sai__Krishna__) April 22, 2023
Rahul also recorded the third-slowest IPL innings for at least 60 balls faced, trailing only JP Duminy (59 off 63) and Aaron Finch (68 off 62). Despite having a poor strike rate of 113.91, the Karnataka hitter has scored 262 runs in seven games so far, including two half-centuries. In the meantime, KL Rahul completed 7,000 runs in T20 cricket in the shortest time ever. In his 197th innings, he reached the milestone, surpassing Virat Kohli’s previous high of 212 innings.
“The pressure got to us in the last 3-4 overs” – KL Rahul
After LSG lost to GT in a low-scoring thriller, KL Rahul felt unhappy. He provided an explanation for why he was unable to speed up throughout his innings.
He said the following during the post-match presentation ceremony:
“I don’t know how it happened, but it has happened. I can’t put a finger on where it went wrong, but we lost 2 points today, this is cricket. I thought we were brilliant with the ball, 135 was 10 runs under par, the bowling was exceptional, we started well with the bat, but these things happen, we’ll have to take it on the chin. Still, a long way to go, 8 points off 7 games, we were on the wrong side of the result today.”
He added:
“We were well ahead in the game, and I wasn’t really trying to bat deep, I still wanted to play my shots, and take on the bowlers, but they bowled well in that 2-3 over period. We perhaps should have taken a few more chances with wickets in hand. I think we missed out on some boundary opportunities. The pressure got to us in the last 3-4 overs.”
On Friday, April 28, LSG will play the Punjab Kings (PBKS) away from home in an effort to get its record back to winning.