IPL 2018 | We did not have anyone to help Rahul get the job done, says Brad Hodge
Kings XI Punjab head coach Brad Hodge has stated that KL Rahul didn’t have anyone to support him from the other end to get the team over the line. In spite of Rahul’s sensational innings, Kings XI Punjab fell 15 runs short off the target set by Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh stadium.
KL Rahul, who has been a pillar of KXIP this season, was determined to get a victory for his team last evening, but eventually couldn’t do enough to make it possible. Rahul scored an unbeaten 95 off 70 balls and still ended up on the losing side as Punjab lost the match by 15 runs, which extended their woeful record of not having won a single game at Sawai Mansingh stadium. Coach Brad Hodge has
“If your one, two and three fire, you are in pretty good shape. We did not have anyone to help Rahul get the job done. It is a slight area of concern. If we had contributions from the middle order, we might have been in a better position,” Hodge said at the post-match press conference.
Rahul had smashed an unbeaten 84 off 54 balls against Rajasthan Royals to get KXIP a win in Indore last game. However, in the away fixture he was let down by the middle order batsmen. Apart from him, no one else looked comfortable at the crease. The next best after Rahul was Stoinis, who could manage just scored 11 runs, with the rest of the batsmen reading scores 1, 0, 3, 9, 7 and 9.
Most of Punjab’s runs in the score of 143/7 were scored by KL Rahul, making him the lone warrior. And Hodge felt that the side’s over-reliance on Chris Gayle and KL Rahul was an area of concern for the team.
“Rahul is in great form and when Chris Gayle fires, anything can happen. We have got some extremely talented players and we need them to lift a little bit and contribute a little bit more to what they are doing. That is the reality for most teams in this IPL,” Hodge said.
Chasing the target of 159, KXIP could only manage 33 runs in the first 6 overs as Hodge felt that they were 20 runs short in the power-play, which was the reason for their loss.
“This was a tough surface when we saw the wicket at the toss. We never got momentum going. At the end of the power-play, we were 20 runs short of where we should have been and that cost us a bit. We could not get back into the game,” Hodge said.
KXIP will play their next match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Indore. Sitting on the third spot with 12 points, KXIP would be hoping to confirm their tickets to the knockouts, before it’s too late.