KL Rahul's spin gambit pays off

No brainer to bring in spinner early: KL Rahul

The Lucknow Super Giants made easy work of their chase as vital contributions from KL Rahul (35) and Krunal Pandya (34) ensured that they sailed their way to the 122-run target in 16 overs against SRH in Lucknow on Friday.

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Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul said it was a 'no brainer' to bring in spin early after seeing the conditions.

Rahul introduced spin early in the game as his slow bowlers, led by Krunal Pandya, wrecked havoc.

"We've been here for a couple of weeks now and knew what we were getting into (nature of the pitch)," Rahul said.

"Even when Jaydev (Unadkat)bowled a few cutters, it was gripping. So it was a no-brainer to bowl spin early. I knew KP's (Krunal) better in the powerplay."

Rahul said his side's batters have adapted well to the conditions at the Ekana Stadium.

"First instinct when I saw both pitches was that we'll need to bat smartly here. We've adapted well as a batting unit."

Veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who grabbed two wickets and took a marvellous catch, said he bowled slower to limit the runs.

"I am feeling good. I have done a lot of hard work on my bowling and fielding. I was just trying to vary my pace, and bowl slower. I know if I bowl faster it is easy to score for the batters. I try to vary my bowling. I try to do everything efficiently."

Talking about the red soil, he said it aided the spinners.

"I think the red soil has more bounce and less spin. I can't say much about the black soil. It is keeping low but not turning much."

SRH skipper Aiden Makram felt his side were a good 30-40 runs short as they were unable to stitch substantial partnerships.

"Not enough runs, tried to get to 150-160 but lost too many wickets and didn't get any momentum going. We realised it wasn't going to be a great wicket to bat in terms of history, but we were happy to fight. They bowled brilliantly according to the conditions." 

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