Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) crashed out of the IPL 2022 after they were defeated in the Eliminator match on May 25 by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Kolkata by 14 runs.
The match was delayed a bit due to rain and wet ground conditions but LSG captain KL Rahul won the toss and chose to bowl first. However, the decision backfired as Rajat Patidar hit a splendid 112* and with Dinesh Karthik (37*) and Virat Kohli (25) also contributing, the RCB put on 207/4 in 20 overs.
LSG then could only manage 193/6 with KL Rahul top-scoring with 79 and Deepak Hooda making 45, while Josh Hazlewood took 3/43 for RCB.
After being eliminated from the IPL 2022, LSG should be blaming themselves for all the catches they dropped as Patidar received two lives and even Dinesh Karthik was dropped once, that too by LSG captain KL Rahul.
IPL 2022: “The difference between the teams was Patidar's knock” KL Rahul on LSG’s elimination
The incident happened in the 15th over bowled by Mohsin Khan when Karthik tried to go over the infield but managed to slice the ball in the air. Rahul, running across wide of mid-off covered good ground, put in the dive, and even got both hands to it. But he couldn’t manage to hang onto the ball while hitting the ground and Karthik got a life.
This led to LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir’s facial expressions in the dugout changing in milliseconds. While KL Rahul was admittedly miffed with himself for dropping the catch, Gambhir was seen going from ecstasy to despair in a split second.
Here is how he reacted:
Now RCB will face RR in the Qualifier 2 on May 27 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and the winner of that match will play Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2022 final on May 29.
