Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant lavished praise on his bowlers after they secured a nine-run win against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Thursday. With this win, LSG were able to snap their six-match losing streak in the tournament.

LSG posted a par score of 209-3 in 19 overs in a rain-interrupted innings. Eventually, RCB were given a DLS target of 213 in 19 overs and LSG were able to make early inroads. Jacob Bethell was sent back by Mohammed Shami with Prince Yadav taking a decent catch whereas Yadav then bowled a jaffa to get rid of Virat Kohli.

Yadav was the pick of the LSG bowlers as he returned with impressive figures of 3-33 in his quota of four overs. The right-arm seamer also accounted for Devdutt Padikkal and Jitesh Sharma.

Furthermore, Shahbaz Ahmed took crucial wickets of Rajat Patidar and Tim David.

Rishabh Pant said in the post-match presentation, “We know that as a team we’ve been grinding hard. Our strength this season has been bowling, the way all the bowlers have put their heart out, especially Prince, Shami bhai, Rathi, all the bowlers.. Avesh, Mayank. There has been some good things as a bowling unit, and looking forward to that.”

Pant also explained his decision to back Digvesh Singh Rathi over Shahbaz Ahmed in the final over when RCB needed 21 runs.

He added, “It was a tough call. We were under pressure. But at the same time you’ve got to trust your bowler. Rathi was the right matchup for sure against Shepherd. He trusted himself and got the job done for the team.”

Pant concluded by saying that this win means a lot to the whole team amid a disappointing season.

He said, “It was a good game for us for sure. For the whole team it means a lot. We have been trying lot of things. Coming to the same page means a lot for us.”

Lucknow Super Giants will next take on Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Sunday.