Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper KL Rahul wasn’t pleased with his team’s bowling performance as they suffered a comprehensive 18-run defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai on Tuesday (April 19).

Invited to bat first, RCB rode on skipper Faf du Plessis’ 64-ball 96 to post a stiff total of 181/6 on the board.

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In reply, LSG managed 163/8 in their 20 overs. Many batters got starts but failed to take the team over the line with a substantial knock. Krunal Pandya was the top scorer with 28-ball 42.

"Something we could have done better is we knew what the wicket was and what lengths to bowl. We needed to stick to that for longer periods of time," Rahul said during the post-match press conference.

"Sometimes we just went a little too far ahead in terms of our tactics and strategies. We wanted not to be predictable and try the batter guessing.

"But on a pitch like that, where there was help, even if we were predictable, if we could have kept in the right areas, would have probably got us a couple of more wickets in the middle and put the squeeze on them."

KL Rahul also praised his counterpart for playing one of the best captain's knocks.

"We have all seen Faf playing over the year. He is a very good player, not just spin but overall he has been playing well in IPL over the last few years," he said.

"It was not an easy wicket to bat on but he constructed the innings really well, something we as a batting unit (could have done), one of us in the top 3 or 4 had to play an innings like that, where we bat deep.

"That could have given us best chance to win this game but unfortunately we couldn't string in those partnerships. It was a very good knock. It was one of the best captain's innings that he (Du Plessis) could have played."

Lucknow Super Giants will face Mumbai Indians in their next match at the Wankhede Stadium on April 24.

(With PTI inputs)