Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant rued dropped catches after they suffered a 37-run loss against Punjab Kings at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala in the ongoing IPL 2025 on Sunday.
Asked to bat first, PBKS posted a par score of 236 runs on the board after crucial contributions from Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer and Shashank Singh.
Prabhsimran top-scored for the home team with a fine knock of 91 runs off just 48 balls as the PBKS opener continued his rich form. However, the right-hander had the rub of the green on his side as his catch was fluffed by Nicholas Pooran when he was on 21.
Furthermore, Avesh Khan also dropped Josh Inglis’ catch and the Australian went on to score 30 runs off just 14 balls. Rishabh Pant also bungled Shashank Singh’s catch later in the innings.
Pant admitted they conceded too many runs and they can’t expect their top three batters to always deliver for them.
Pant said after the loss while talking to the official broadcasters, “Definitely too many runs. When you drop crucial catches at the wrong time, it is going to hurt you badly. We thought it was going to do more. We didn’t pick the length right at the start. That’s part and parcel of the game.”
Speaking about the playoffs, Pant said, “The dream is still alive. If we gonna win the next three matches, we definitely can turn it around. It makes sense when your top order is batting really well. Every match you can’t hope they will come off nicely. It’s part of the game. We need to take the game deep. Every time they can’t do the heavy job for us. Like you said in the first, we had too many to chase. That hurt us badly.”
Lucknow Super Giants will next take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Friday.
