Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant said that there were various points of the season where they could have qualified for the IPL playoffs but the inability to take these opportunities cost the team in the long run. LSG has had a rather inconsistent season but on Thursday they showed what they were capable of when in full flow when they defeated Gujarat Titans by 33 runs.
“We talk about playing good cricket, we’ve shown on occasion we can do that. There were times in the tournament where we had our chances to make the play offs (but didn’t make it), but it’s part and parcel of the game,” Pant after the match.
“Coming into the tournament, there were lot of injury concerns. We made sure it’s something we wouldn’t talk about it. The whole batting unit has played, we lacked a bit on the fielding side. We can’t make excuses, just want to learn and move on,” he added.
had begun the season with a lot of their key bowlers on the injury list. Mohsin Khan, , Akash Deep, and Mayank Yadav were all out injured at the start of their campaign. While Shardul Thakur was signed mid-season and Avesh and Akash made returns, Mayank featured in just two games before being ruled out again.
In Thursday’s match, Gujarat messed up on a golden opportunity to seal a top two spot in the league table after their loss to Lucknow.
Batting first, ’s brilliant 117 off 64 balls took to 235 for 2 after stipulated 20 overs. The total was commanding and LSG did well enough to keep the home team at bay, restricting them to 202 for 9 in 20 overs.
New Zealander Will O’Rourke, who has come in as Mayank’s replacement, was the pick of the bowlers for LSG with figures of 3 for 27. Shahrukh Khan (57 off 29 balls) did give LSG a scare with some lusty blows but that was never going to be enough in the end despite a riveting 86-run stand with Sherfane Rutherford for the fourth wicket in just 6.4 overs.
(With agency inputs)
