Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) skipper KL Rahul said his team were always second in the running against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Friday (October 30) once they lost the toss and were asked to bat first in conditions in Abu Dhabi.
Dew in the second half, Rahul felt, made a massive difference in the end outcome as it left his spinners pretty ineffective defending their score of 185/4. While young Ravi Bishnoi (0/27) found a way to be economical, Murugan Ashwin (1/44) went for plenty. KXIP needed wickets through the middle overs if they were to restrict a resurgent RR top six.
"It was a horrible toss to lose with the amount of dew later on. It did get very very easy to bat on in the second innings," Rahul said at the post-match presentation, as quoted by CricketNext.
"We play with two leg spinners (M Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi), wrist spinners, and we want the ball to be dry and get some grip off the surface. But with the dew it got really difficult."
"On a sticky wicket, as it was when we batted, this was not a bad total. We didn't bowl badly, but we need to learn to bowl better with the wet ball."
"The dew has been unpredictable through the tournament. When I spoke to the groundsman he said there was no dew last game. You can't prepare for it, but you have to be able to adapt to that," he added.
Even KXIP's pacers, Arshdeep Singh (0/34), Mohammad Shami (0/36) and Chris Jordan (1/44), couldn't find control against the likes of Ben Stokes (50), Sanju Samson (48) and Jos Buttler (22*). Earlier, Chris Gayle's brilliant knock of 99 and contributions from Rahul (46), Nicholas Pooran (22*) had taken KXIP to a defendable score.
Rahul, on a different note, said he isn't surprised that his team couldn't cross the line when they were expected to and seal their playoff spot despite having gained momentum with a five-match winning streak.
"It has been the kind of season where we've not got anything easy," he said. "We have had to work hard for every point. No surprise that it has come down to the last game. Hopefully, we can put in a good performance and somehow squeeze into the (playoff) spots."
The seven-wicket loss to RR has left KXIP in a spot where they must not just beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday (November 1) but also improve their net run-rate significantly while hoping for other results to go their way as well.
