IPL 2018: All-rounder Marcus Stoinis hails KL Rahul's 'best innings' so far

Defending a total in Indore’s Holkar stadium has been a daunting task for the sides in the past. Six such attempts had failed previously. But when Rajasthan Royals removed 4 Kings XI batsman for 87 runs in the 13th over which included the big wicket of Gayle, one would’ve thought that they have the hosts under the pump.

However, KL Rahul was standing between them. The wicketkeeper-batsman combined with Marcus Stoinis steered the side in the run chase. His 54-ball 84* helped the side chase down the total with 8 balls to spare.

Best players always win the game: Stoinis

The Australian all-rounder who partnered Rahul for an unbeaten 68-run stand heaped praises on KL Rahul’s innings and termed his best in the tournament so far. According to Stoinis finishing the game is a very important aspect and KL Rahul did that brilliantly.

“That’s what the best players do, they win the game. It doesn’t matter that sometimes you’re not as stylish as you want to be, even though he was the stylish player of the game. But he understood the situation, he understood the wicket and he batted accordingly. That to me, I think that was his best innings so far,” said the 28-year old Aussie.

Talking about his partnership, Stoinis added that when he walked out to bat, Rahul asked him to take his time and understand the conditions first. Stoinis said that his plan was to play the spinners with the straight bat. He also suggested that reading the pitch from outside was difficult.

Knew If we stayed calm, will win it: Stoinis

“It’s (the pitch) hard to understand until you go out there – if it’s slow, if it’s turning and those sorts of things. I wanted to make sure I was calm enough to take a couple of balls. And KL [Rahul] said the same thing when I got out there – said to relax, take a few balls and understand the conditions. And if it was a spinner and if he tossed it up, my plan was to look to hit straight, that’s my strength. And again with the quicks, to understand the conditions, understand the field, and for us to stay calm because if we were there till the end we would win,” said Stoinis.

Earlier, after asked to bat first, the start of Royals was thumped early with Short and Rahane failing to do anything for the side. However, Jos Buttler who was promoted as an opener in the last game proved his mettle at the top yet again with a half-century. He along with Samson added 49 runs to bring Royals back in the game.

However, Afghan teenager Mujeeb Ur Rahman then ruptured the progress with 3 quick wickets. Shreyas Gopal’s 16-ball 24 meant that the Royals bowler had something to defend. Eventually, it was KL Rahul’s splendid knock which has kept the Royals last in the points table.

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