Punjab Kings failed to score four runs in the final over despite having 8 wickets in hand.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) lost a close match against Rajasthan Royal (RR) by two runs on Tuesday (September 21). It never looked like the win was slipping away from Punjab's hands until the final over bowled by Kartik Tyagi.
PBKS captain KL Rahul was disappointed with another defeat where they were in a commanding position. It has happened before multiple times and Rahul feels they are not learning from their previous blunders.
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"It's a tough one to swallow. We have been a team that has experienced games like these before. We need to see how we can handle pressure better. Trying to finish in the 18th over sometimes you go too hard and lose your way and let the opponents in," Rahul said in the post-match presentation.
In the run-chase of 186 runs, Punjab openers Rahul and Mayank Agarwal stitched up an opening partnership of 120 runs. The skipper scored 49 and Mayank got out scoring 67 runs.
They needed only 4 runs in the final over but Tyagi gave only 1 run and picked up two wickets to take Rajasthan to their fourth win of the season.
"We haven't learned from previous mistakes. We will now try to come back stronger and win the next five games. We pulled things back quite nicely with the ball, kept taking wickets, which is very crucial in this format. Getting runs for me, Mayank and even Aiden in his first IPL game was important," he added.
Punjab will play their next match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on September 25. They are struggling at number 7th on the points table with only 3 wins in 9 matches.
(With ANI Inputs)