KL Rahul was a dejected captain as Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) suffered a demoralizing four-wicket defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals in the 9th game of IPL 2020 at Sharjah on Sunday (September 27).
KXIP failed to defend the massive total of 223 as Royal’s Sanju Samson (85 off 42 balls), Rahul Tewatia (53 off 31 balls) and Steve Smith (50 off 27 balls) produced blinders to overhaul the target with three balls to spare.
With RR needing 51 runs from the last three overs, the Punjab skipper thought they had the game in their pocket but Tewatia smashed Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in the 18th over to turn the match on its head.
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"Look, this is T20 cricket, we have seen it so many years now, we did a lot of things right, we have to keep our chin up and come back stronger. A lot of positives tonight, we did a lot of things right, but such things do happen, a great game of cricket, we have to give it to them (Rajasthan Royals)," Rahul said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"The game keeps you humble all the time, I honestly did think we had the game in our pocket. Towards the end, they batted well and put pressure on our bowlers which led to mistakes. I back them to do the job, they have done well in the last two games, it's OK to have one bad game. It's good that this came early in the tournament, they will only learn from this and come back strongly," he added.
Earlier, KXIP rode on Mayank Agarwal’s 50-ball 106 and KL Rahul’s 54-ball 69 to post a gigantic 223/2 on the board. The duo had a 183-run partnership for the first wicket which is the second-highest opening stand in the history of IPL.
"Small grounds and the total doesn't really matter. We have seen in the last seven or eight games - be it in Sharjah or in Dubai, the bowlers are going the distance at the back end in this tournament so far, the teams are backing their batsmen to have a go at the death and get those big overs - Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia did really well, they were set, played superbly well and they deserve this win," Rahul remarked.
(With ANI inputs)
