A hard-fought fifty from KL Rahul (61-ball 68) went in vain as Mohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami produced one of the best-ever bowling performances in death over to power their team Gujarat Titans to a memorable seven-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 on Saturday (April 22). The dramatic finish saw Mohit Sharma bowling a breathtaking 20th over in which four LSG wickets fell. Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul did score a fifty but looked really out of his comfort zone, batting at a strike rate of 111.48. By virtue of tonight's epic win over Lucknow, Hardik Pandya's Gujarat (4 wins, 2 loses) moved to fourth position in IPL 2023 Points standings, while Lucknow (4 wins, 3 loses) remains at second spot in points table.
"Bottling a run chase when 30 needed of 35 balls with 9 wickets in hand requires some baffling batting. Happened with Punjab in 2020 on few occasions losing games they should have won easily. As brilliant as Guj were with ball & Hardik smart with his captaincy, brainless from Lko,” KL Rahul tweeted.
KL Rahul reacts to Lucknow's heartbreaking loss vs Gujarat
"I don't know how it happened, but it has happened. I can't put a finger on where it went wrong, but we lost 2 points today, this is cricket. I thought we were brilliant with the ball, 135 was 10 runs under par, the bowling was exceptional, we started well with the bat, but these things happen, we'll have to take it on the chin. But still a long way to go, 8 points off 7 games, we were on the wrong side of the result today.
"We were well ahead in the game and I wasn't really trying to bat deep, I still wanted to play my shots, take on the bowlers, but they bowled well in that 2-3 over period, by Noor and Jayant, we perhaps should have taken a few more chances with wickets in hand, they bowled decently, but I think we missed out on some boundary opportunities, the pressure got to us in the last 3-4 overs, we played well until then. They did bowl well though," LSK skipper KL Rahul said after the match.