KL Rahul and Sanjiv Goenka. (Image: ANI)
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) lost their third match in a row, going down to Delhi Capitals (DC) by 19 runs in IPL 2024 clash on Tuesday night. LSG’s hopes to qualify for the playoffs have been dashed thanks to this defeat. But unlike the last time when LSG had lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at home, their owner Sanjiv Goenka had lashed out at Rahul in public view, this time he was quite calm about it. Goenka discussed the game with Rahul after the defeat but he had his calmness intact. There was a moment in the game when Goenka had applauded Rahul for a stupendous effort in the field.
In the ninth over of the DC innings, Ravi Bishnoi gave room to batter Shai Hope, who tried to muscle the ball over the covers. But he could not connect and hit it to Rahul, who timed his jump brilliantly to catch it. The ball fumbled but Rahul dived on the ground to eventually finish the catch. Seeing this, the crowd appreciated the brilliant display of fielding. Goenka too rose and applauded the catch with a smile on his face. Some fans clicked the photo of Goenka applauding the catch and it went viral within seconds.
Check the photo below:
Sanjiv Goenka delights in KL Rahul’s catch from the stands. pic.twitter.com/cA8S3sy2yx— KING BABAR AZAM FAN (@MS557866) May 14, 2024
LSG are still mathematically in the race for playoffs but looking at scenarios, consider their campaign over. For LSG to qualify, they must beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by 94 runs and then hope that SRH lose their remaining two matches by a combined margin of around 194 runs. They will also hope that Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru, so that there is a three-way tie between then, SRH and DC.
Rahul blamed powerplay batting as the biggest reason why LSG are in the place where they are today. LSG captain said that they keep losing wickets in the powerplay, not getting to solid starts on which the likes of Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran can capitalise.
“This has been a problem right through the season – we keep losing a lot of wickets in the powerplay, we never get a solid start to get the likes of Stoinis and Pooran in, that is the big reason why we are in this position,” said Rahul.