IPL 2020 | We couldn't soak in the pressure, insists KL Rahul

In what proved to a heartbreaking night for Punjab, they were never in control of the game as losing the match one-sided by 9 wickets. Apart from Deepak Hooda’s late 30-ball 62, no one other batsmen took the responsibility to stay on the crease for long as they lost wickets regularly. They did reach the target of 154, but it wasn’t enough against the clinical batsmen of Chennai, who chased the target with 7 balls to spare. 

Punjab skipper KL Rahul reckoned that they expected to reach 180-90, but couldn’t soak in the pressure of the big game. He insisted that although they didn’t play well in the first half of the tournament, he was proud of the way his players performed in the second half of the tournament before getting knocked out. 

“It is as simple as that. We didn't bat really well. Big pressure game, we expected 180-190. We couldn't soak in the pressure. We didn't have the results going our way in the first half. The team still felt like we were playing good cricket. We were patchy. The bowling and batting wasn't coming together in the first half, proud that we did it in the second half. Lots to be proud of as a team.”

Few of the matches that Punjab lost were extremely close and could have gone either way, but Punjab ended on the losing side on each side. Rahul added that they only have themselves to blame for their departure from the league. 

“A lot of "could have been". It is disappointing. We had a lot of games in our pockets and we couldn't get over the line and we only have ourselves to blame. That short-run game too, looks like it has come back to bite us,” he added.