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"We played stupid cricket with the bat," an angry Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul stated despite his team getting the better of Punjab Kings by 20 runs in the IPL 2022 match at the MCA International Stadium in Pune on Saturday.
LSG lost their way in the middle overs to finish on 153/8 before their bowlers rallied to restrict Punjab to 133/8.
"I was disappointed and fuming at the end of the first innings. Stupid cricket with the bat," Rahul said at the post match presentation.
"We need to get better with the bat. Half-time, when Quinny (Quinton de Kock) and Deepak (Hooda) were batting. They paced it really really well to get to 60 in 9 overs on a tricky wicket. Had we batted smartly, we could have gotten to 180-190.
"I think we just need to be smarter in reading the game. If we could have not played too many shots we could have done better. We have been good on the field and good with the ball. Just need to keep repeating the good things."
After an underwhelming show with the bat, LSG bowlers put up a spirited display as pacer Dushmantha Chameera (2/17) and Krunal Pandya (2/11) grabbed two wickets each.
"The way we responded with the ball was phenomenal. Krunal has been brilliant throughout the tournament. This season he has really worked on his bowling. Bowling economically is important but he has been giving us two three wickets in the middle overs," Rahul added.
Meanwhile, a disappointed Punjab Kings skipper Mayank Agarwal rued the dismal batting effort.
"I think we just kept losing wickets. We had batsmen who were set and we kept getting out. So many soft dismissals for us. It is disappointing and we have to face the truth. We didn't bat well enough and we were below par with the bat."