KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock showcased world-class batting skills vs CSK: LSG pacer Matt Henry

KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock stitched a match-winning 134-run opening partnership against Chennai Super Kings on Friday (April 19) to help their team Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) earn crucial two points in the IPL 2024.

Lucknow pacer Matt Henry has lauded the ''world-class batsmanship'' of captain KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock, saying that the openers helped them outclass a ''very good'' Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bowling attack.

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Chasing 177 runs at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, Rahul (82) and de Kock (54) made classy fifties on a slow pitch to produce a chasing masterclass and power LSG to a comfortable eight-wicket.

''In terms of our batting, the opening partnership was incredible. The partnership between KL and Quinton really changed the game for us. The batsmanship overall was world-class and that was what was the difference at the end of the day,'' Henry said at the post-match press conference. The duo stitched 134 runs in 15 overs to chase down the target.

''It was always going to be a competitive total. We knew that it will come down to partnerships. In a tournament like this if you are chasing, you need guys in your top-order to make big runs and today we had two of them, the way they (Rahul and de Kock) went about their work.

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"The batsmanship they showed laid the platform for us to finish the job against a very good Chennai attack,'' the New Zealand pacer, who didn't have a very good outing said.

Henry also lauded the effort of LSG's bowling unit, especially left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya (2/16).

''The pitch was a little bit on the slower side, but the guys adapted to the surface, we did a really good job. The key thing for us was the ability to take wickets. KP (Krunal) and the spinners to be able to continue to take wickets and bowling to a fresh batsman made a massive difference for us,'' he said.

Henry also feels that there is no dearth of talent in India and was impressed by the efforts of youngsters in the team.

''Coming here and meeting a lot of young quicks, it's really exciting to see. There is no surprise about the depth in India but the skill set these guys have and the confidence to execute their plans under pressure is just incredible,'' he said. ''The bowling group that I am part of is awesome.''

(With PTI Inputs)