KL Rahul, skipper of Kings XI Punjab saw his team losing yet another match, this time against Kolkata Knight Riders despite being in a comfortable position after openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul himself laid the solid foundation with a 115-run partnership for the first wicket while chasing 165.
Kolkata Knight Riders posted 164/6 while batting first as opener Shubman Gill scored 57 and KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik was back in form by scoring 58 off only 29 balls including eight fours and two sixes. The target was achievable after both KXIP openers scored half-centuries to take their side to 115 in 15th over.
KL Rahul: KXIP Started Well And Bowled Well But I Have No Answers For Defeat
KXIP needed 50 more runs in more than five overs will all wickets in hand, but KKR bowlers led by Prasidh Krishna who took three wickets and Sunil Narine who took two wickets denied the inevitable and ultimately KKR won by two runs.
“We started well, we got close, but honestly I have no answers. Just have to keep coming hard in the next seven and win a few,” KL Rahul said at the post-match presentation.
“We bowled well, it’s the first game on this new strip, but the bowlers adapted well by swinging the ball early and getting wickets in the powerplay, which is the only way to keep them below 180.”
“Even in the death they did well to mix it up, trying to bowl bouncers and bluff the batsmen with wide yorkers. That’s what we asked of them and they executed well,” he added.
KL Rahul scored 74 off 58 balls including six boundaries while his opening partner Mayank Agarwal scored 56 off 39 balls which included 6 fours and one six. The middle order of KXIP faltered yet again as the likes of Nicholas Pooran, Prabh Simran Singh, Mandeep Singh faltered.
KL Rahul: KXIP Will Only Be Satisfied When We Win
With the loss against KKR, KXIP are languishing at the bottom of the points table with only one win in seven matches and as many as six losses. The middle-order and death bowling is a bit of concern for them. They are yet to play the likes of Chris Gayle who was supposed to play against SRH and KKR but is down with food poisoning and is hospitalized.
“We weren’t satisfied at any stage during the run-chase, you’re only satisfied when you win. Me and Mayank started off well, but if you lose wickets in clusters at the end, it’s hard to get over the line,” Rahul said.
Glenn Maxwell scored 10 off five balls but couldn’t take the side to victory. Prabh Simran Singh playing his second match could score only four runs off seven balls as it hampered KXIP victory. Mandeep Singh was out in the first ball while Nicholas Pooran scored 10.
KXIP won only against RCB in their second match by 97 runs after skipper KL Rahul scored an unbeaten 132. They lost against Delhi Capitals in their opening game in Super Over and lost to Rajasthan Royals despite posting 223/2 after Mayank Agarwal scored 106.
They lost to MI, CSK, SRH and KKR to record their 5th successive defeat. They next play RCB again and will have some days break to sort out their problems.
KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal occupy the first and second spots in leading run-scorers in IPL 2020 with 387 and 337 runs respectively while CSK’s Faf Du Plessis trails them with 307 runs.